Hidden Symbols
by cyberpen
Summary: Talli secretly likes the band New Moon, but not in the obsessive way like some fans. So when her best friend begs her to go meet Paul, one of the singers, what happens when he imprints...and not on her best friend that adores the ground he walks on.
1. Chapter 1

**Chapter 1:**

I couldn't believe I was standing in line for a kissing booth.

What would the past me think?

I rolled my eyes, hey, it's not like I'm that desperate to have some guy slobber on me. I was just here for moral support.

I turned to my best friend whose sanity was in question.

Ugh, it's because of her that I had to sleep outside in a parking lot instead of on my nice and comfy bed.

I must have been unknowingly sneering because when she finally took her eyes off the head of the line and looked at me, she laughed.

"Aww, cheer up! Before you know it, we'll be talking about how Paul fell in love with me at first kiss over the meal I know you've been longing for."

I just glowered more at her. While inwardly I was whimpering at the mention of breakfast. That's the only damn reason I agreed to this infatuation fest in the first place.

No, it's not, my inner voice chided. I did this because I know how badly my best friend is obsessed with Mr. Paul "the hottie" singer.

She'd die a small death if I didn't go. Mainly because no matter how badly she wanted that kiss, there was no way in hell that she would go alone. Something to do with her being afraid of fainting and being taken advantage of by some guy. I'm still not completely sure.

So that's where I come in.

She knew I'd grumble.

That I would even argue.

But she also knew, that I would never say no.

It meant way too much to her little, freakishly obsessive heart, and as official BFF for over five years, I could not let that happiness disappear.

So here I am, stuck in line with kids the age of ten all the way up to adults twice my age. All of whom were so called "head over heels in love" with one of the singers of New Moon; only the hottest band to hit audiences since the NSync era.

Don't get me wrong, I think the guy's pretty hot to. In fact, I think they all are…but no man is worth sleeping outside in a line for hours just so you can pay 75 buckaroos to kiss him on the cheek. If anything, he should be paying me $75 for skipping my breakfast!

I shifted my weight a whole quarter inch as the line went up a little.

Ana threw me a mega watt smile. I could just see the excitement rolling off of her in waves.

My lips twitched as I turned my head to keep her from seeing me smile.

What? A person has to have at least a little bit of a sense of humor if they're going to stay up all night for a freaking kiss!

It better be the best damn kiss she'll ever have!

As I mentally cursed who ever came up with the idea behind this, I let my gaze drift around the room.

Who would have thought that so many people would show up just to kiss one guy.

A guy that nobody knew beyond his singing career or an interview here and there.

I had to give him some credit though, he was donating all the money that was made here to his tribal reservation.

Aww… my mind got away before I could silence it.

Yah, it was great to see a guy care about his people. What wasn't great was said big guy being my best friend's biggest crush since she hit puberty.

Oh well, guess I could always hit on one of the other band members, my mind giggled.

It's not like he's the only hottie. A girl could just faint being around any of them. All of them take the definition of tall, dark and handsome to a whole to level.

Yum, yum.

It doesn't hurt that they actually sing some great music. If I hadn't sworn myself to secrecy, I'd tell people that I was actually one of their original fans.

You know, one of those rare creatures that listened to popular music before it became popular. Then the rest of the world has to go and ruin your fun by blaring it unnecessarily loud every minute for a month.

Yah, so I'm a bitter person when it comes to the media over doing it.

I'd never admit that that's one of the reasons I secretly like New Moon, they don't do overkill.

They just sell their CD's, they've never even went on tour. They just hideaway wherever it is they live and go about their lives.

That's why when Ana told me about Paul kissing for charity; I actually thought she was joking.

I was wrong, though.

So here I am. Stuck between my giddy best friend and some crazy obsessed mom fan that keeps making sure her lipstick isn't smudged.

I looked at my watch.

Frig! It was only 9am. I'd never get breakfast. At best, we'd probably make it to lunch.

I wanted to cry.

To throw a hissy fit right here, right now.

Instead, I decided to go the annoying route. "Are we there yet?" I asked.

Much to my amusement, Ana's smile was replaced by a glare. "Don't even start."

"I can't help it," I whined. "I'm starving and I didn't bring any food with me."

"You should have thought about that before we left," she lectured.

Uh uh, don't even go there, I thought. "Excuse me for forgoing my own needs for half a second to make my best friend happy."

Okay, so I was being a little bit dramatic. Who cares? As long as it did the trick of getting some food into my belly, I was okay with guilt tripping.

"Fine," she huffed, but I could tell she was holding back a smile.

I smiled.

"Why don't you go down the road to the nearest gas station and get us some snacks?"

It was heaven to my ears, so I grabbed her for the biggest hug.

"Yes, Yes, YES!!!!!" I said jumping up and down from foot to foot. I could care less that practically the entire row had turned to glance in our direction.

It was only when I saw the evil twinkle in Ana's eye that the smile disappeared from off off my face. "What," I whispered, almost too afraid to ask.

"You'll have to walk," she replied innocently. "There's no way you'd get you're parking spot back now."

She was officially the next ingredient to go into my imaginary witch's brew.

"That's evil," I said narrowing my eyes.

"I know," she laughed. Which only made me narrow my eyes more.

"Fine," I mumbled.

Real mature, I thought to myself as I made my way out of the stadium doors.

The fresh gust of air on my way out was relaxing. I hated crowds, especially when they weren't outside.

Taking in a deep breath, I decided to jog. One, because I know Ana will be freaking about being alone every second I'm gone. Two, because it helps me to block out the world and my surroundings.

I grinned. My BFF knew what she was doing by not letting me take the car. She must have known I'd be going stir crazy, cooped up in that building all day. She's such a great friend to sacrifice her own fear for me to be happy for a few minutes.

I'm such a horrible friend for thinking the worst.

I made it to the local gas station in record time, if I do say so myself. Which, I do.

Walking in, I couldn't help but notice all the Native American women inside. Normally this wouldn't have fazed me because I'm Native American myself, but I was curious as to whether there'd be anything for me to munch on since they seemed to have everything in the store gathered up in their arms.

The closest one to me smiled at my shocked expression. "Maybe you should get what you want first," she laughed.

I smiled, "You know, I think I might actually take you up on that offer. I'm to hungry to be polite."

Another girl that looked to be about my age laughed, "You'd fit right in with our husbands."

I smiled and went to grab some pop. As I opened the door the reflection from the woman behind me shocked me.

She had to have the most beautifully gruesome face I had ever seen. Three long scars slashed across the most stunning features. It was as if someone had torn the Mona Lisa to detract from its beauty. Only, the proud stance from the battle scars made her all the more attractive.

I wanted to find out where those scars came from but there was no way I was insensitive enough to ask.

Instead I went to grab some chips, only to discover most of the kind I preferred were gone. Okay, whatever. I'll just grab some candy bars. Walking down another aisle, I stopped mid-step.

No way.

What the hell?

They only left like two Baby Ruth's.

It's just not fair.

"You look like you're about to cry," the first girl from before said.

I just nodded.

Laughing she said, "My name's Kim and don't worry, I've got your back."

"I hope that means you've got some left over candy bars and chips?"

She smiled, then turned to yell at the girl paying at the register, "Hey Leah, hold up a second. This girl's going to need something besides the scrapings we left behind."

The girl named Leah scowled at me.

"Why do I feel like I just made an enemy?" I whispered to Kim.

"Most people feel that way when they meet Leah," she said.

"Oh," was my lame reply.

Walking to the counter I picked up a tube of Pringles and two Butterfingers. I smiled, trying to lighten the sour mood. Leah sneered at Kim, "Those two count as Jared's."

Kim rolled her eyes as Leah walked out carting what seemed to be at least fifteen bags.

I wonder how often she works out?

I was in the middle of feeling sorry for myself about not doing anything but running when Kim waved her hand in front of my face.

"Hello, earth to…wait," she said looking confused. "I never got your name."

"Oh sorry, I'm Talli." I replied while paying for my stuff.

Walking out the door together, I was prepared to say my goodbyes but I shut my mouth when I didn't see any vehicles parked by.

"Oh Kim, I think your friends must have accidentally left you."

She laughed, "No worries, they just got a head start on our walk back to the fundraiser."

Oh, I thought, while mentally slapping myself. Duh. How stupid could I be, not to make that connection. A group full of girls, plus no cars, it has to equal that snoz fest.

I looked ahead towards the direction of the auditorium and did a double take. "Holy crow your friend Leah is fast. She's got to be running."

Kim's head snapped up. "Um, yah. She's into total fitness."

"I guess," I couldn't suppress the surprise in my voice. "She makes me feel like a wimp. I can't run that fast and carry weights that heavy."

"Anyways," Kim said, "I didn't peg you as the type of girl to want to kiss Paul?"

I smiled, should I play along and be the part of a doting fan?

Nah, I'm all about honesty.

"I actually came to support a friend. She's been dreaming of this day since childhood. I'm just here to take her away if she faints or something." I started laughing out loud as the scene played out in my mind.

"What about you? Won't Mr. Kim be jealous?" I said with my eyes looking at the ring on her the ring finger of her left hand.

"You have no idea," said Kim. "I'm here for moral support to, for a…buddy of mine."

"Sweet, maybe we should all go out to eat after the 'epic kisses'. I know Ana would love to drool over it with someone who actually cares."

It grew quiet after my statement, so I looked to see if Kim heard me. She seemed to be thinking pretty hard about something because I could see the lines forming on her forehead.

I was about to renege on my idea when she said, "I'd love to but I don't think…my buddy would be up to it."

Huh?

"Well, the offer still stands for you then."

She must have thought I would change my mind because she let out what I thought sounded like a sigh of relief.

"Great," she smiled.

It was pretty silent the rest of the short way to the auditorium, but I wouldn't describe it as awkward silence.

As we were nearing the doors I grabbed out my cell, "so what's your number so we can get in touch?"

"Yah, you're right. How stupid of me, there's no way we'd find each other in this crowd."

I dialed the numbers as she said them out loud. She said she'd get mine after I called her to meet up. That must mean her friend was closer to the kissing booth than Ana was.

Poor Kim, she must have had to be out here hours before I my hours of camping out on the sidewalk. I suddenly wanted to give her all my food as a concession for having such horrible luck.

On second thought, I was really hungry.

Somehow I was able to make my way back to Ana. Just as I predicted, I lost Kim to the crowd along the way.

Ana looked frustrated. She hated being alone within large groups.

"Hey," I said walking up to her side.

"Oh thank heavens! I thought you'd never get back."

Drama Queen.

She snatched a candy bar and pop from out of my hands and started rattling on about everything that happened in my absence. By the time she was done we were almost to the kissing booth.

Ana looked like she was about to topple over from nerves. I tried to distract her by telling her about my trip to the store and meeting Kim. It helped to calm her down a little bit but when I finished we still had to wait for three more people to be kissed.

In that time between kisses 657 and 660, she managed to become anxious all over again. Meanwhile, I was staring on at the new handsomeness right in front of my eyes, known as the band members of New Moon.

I wasn't expecting every band member to be up there supporting Paul. Every once in a while I'd notice one of the band members twitch their lips in what looked like a fast whisper. It had to be because everyone would crack a smile in the band. Everyone accept Paul who only seemed to glare in that person's general direction. That only seemed to make them grin more.

"Number 661," someone said over the speaker.

"That's us," I said grabbing Ana's arm to move forward. Halfway up to the podium, the man with the speaker phone motioned for us to stop. "Only one of you is registered for a kiss."

"Yah," I nodded. "I'm here for support."

"Then you'll have to wait behind that line," he said pointing in the general direction to the left of the stage.

I was about to argue that I hadn't just slept all night in a freaking parking lot to be denied a chance to stand next to my friend during the epic kiss she'll no doubt talk about for the rest of her life, but Ana beat me to it my nudging me to go.

My initial reaction was hurt, but then I saw how focused she was on the man behind the kissing booth, she wasn't trying to offend me, just ignore me.

Laughing at how easily our years of friendship could be dismissed, I walked over to the left side of the stage. I could still slightly hear what was being said, because let's face it, Ana had a loud mouth.

"I'm your biggest fan," I groaned, how original Ana. We sooo, should have practiced her first line.

"Thanks," I heard Paul reply. At least, I assumed it was Paul because the table was blocking my view. Deep, sexy voice…a true singer, it made me melt and I wasn't even by him.

Have I mentioned that I have a thing for guys with deep voices, oh yo, HUGE turn on to me.

"My best friend was one of your original fans because she's into bands and stuff that aren't well known. So, of course I have to listen to all her crazy music on car rides. Not that you're music is crazy, because it isn't. It's just that in a way I really am one of your truest fans because I knew you before you became really popular."

Oh My Gosh, she did NOT just say that.

"Um, cool." Paul sounded a little stunned. Most people were, even people that thought they knew Ana well. When she got nervous, she talked a lot and fast.

"Is your friend here too?"

It was instinct to dunk down.

"What? Uh, yah but she's doesn't want a kiss. I mean not that she has anything against you, because you know, you're amazing. It's just she's not into, well, this kind of stuff."

I didn't even know the guy and I could imagine his eyebrow rising up. Haha, oh Ana you are the Queen of saying too much.

"Oh, well…" I heard Paul drone off. I thought I heard a snicker, so I looked in the general direction of the rest of the band members.

Nothing seemed different.

When I looked up again, it was to see Ana walking down the steps from the podium with a HUGE smile on her face. Oh no, I missed the epic kiss.

"Did you see that?" she said petting her cheek.

I smiled, "No the table was blocking my view, but I sure heard enough."

She blushed, which caused me to laugh out loud.

Then I started blushing because I'm one of those people that have a really high, piercing laugh. People always look and the majority get annoyed by it, but honestly, what could I do about it.

The entire area around the podium was now looking at us and I couldn't help but see some of the band members looking at us to. I blushed harder.

I caught the eye of someone standing up where I had assumed Paul was sitting earlier. He turned his head to look at us to, and he stared right at me. Again, I blushed because he never broke eye contact, but instead just kept looking at me.

He was way more gorgeous than I ever gave him credit for. I wanted to melt just looking into his eyes. His body so matched the voice and I immediately felt jipped because I didn't buy a ticket to get kissed either.

I chickened out at this onslaught of feelings, and turned to Ana. "Can we go now before either of us embarrasses ourselves anymore?"

Still petting the side of her face she nodded. I grabbed our bags from off the floor next to us and took off in the direction of door.

As I was putting my hands on the door to the exit I heard someone say, "Give me that damn microphone." Followed by, "Sorry ladies, but Paul needs to take a quick break."

I mentally thanked God that we had made it to the kissing booth before Paul's break. Who knows how long we would have been standing there.

At the mention of Paul my heart did a little jump. I was slightly scared by my reaction because it was so unexpected. Hello, Paul? That was my best friend's man.

"He was so beautiful, sitting there with all his hair."

Momentarily distracted I almost missed what Ana was saying. "What?"

"He has the hottest hair, the kind you just want to run your hands through forever." She sighed.

"Um, yah," I thought, trying to get the image of running my hands through his sexy dark hair out of my mind. I could imagine...

STOP! I yelled at myself, you're being absolutely ridiculous. Do you realize how stalker-ish you sound? Great, I'm becoming everything I can't stand about fans, the crazy I'm in love with him part.

Grabbing my phone for no reason but to distract myself, I randomly started clicking buttons to calm down. Somewhere in the vortex of my phone, I found Kim's number. I didn't know if I was more excited to call her to actually meet up for some real food or to distract me from these newly discovered feelings.

On the third ring she answered. "Hello?"

"Oh, um hey Kim, this is Talli." I replied. "I was wondering if you still wanted to meet up with us for lunch?"

"Oh, yah, um sorry, can you hold up for a second?" she whispered into the phone, "There's kind of a little family emergency."

"Sure," I replied, "I can call you back, if you want," but she must have gotten off the phone before she heard my last part.

I could hear muffled sounds in the background. "Sam, you have to do something. You have to find her." "Don't worry, we will. All we have to do is look at the tapes; she's bound to be on there. The guys are already out looking for her." "You don't understand, I can't lose her. She's…"

"Hello? Talli are you there?" the conversation I was eavesdropping on was interrupted by a clearer woman's voice.

"What?" I replied, completely blown away by what I'd just heard. Did the guy lose his kid or something? "Oh yah, I'm here."

"Sorry, my friend totally lost his…girlfriend in the crowd and he's freaking out that he can't find her."

I was slightly confused, by the tone of worry, it sounded more severe than that. "Ah, why would he freak out about losing his girlfriend in the crowd, I'm sure she'll be looking for him to. Just ask the guy with the microphone to make an announcement."

"Yah, we tried that. That's a little bit why he's freaking out, because she didn't come back."

'Oh," again with my lame replies. Poor guy, maybe he was being dumped and didn't know it yet.

"So, would you mind terribly if I took a rain check on our lunch?"

"Oh no, go right ahead, it's completely understandable. Good luck with finding her."

"Thanks," she sighed. "Maybe later in the week we can have lunch. I'm only staying in town until Saturday."

Out of town? Kim's from out of town, again with my stupidity. Of course she was from out of town, hell I was from out of town. The only freaking reason I'm here is for…Paul. I mentally sighed at his named, then kicked myself.

"Yah, I'm staying with relatives in town until Friday too," I replied before Kim thought I had hung up on her. "Any time before that would be great."

"Awesome," she trilled. "I'll call you back when everything settles down."

"Sure, sure, no prob. I'll talk to you later."

"K', bye."


	2. Chapter 2

Thank you to everyone that reviewed my first chapter, it was greatly appreciated. 

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**Chapter 2:**

It had been three days since the kissing booth and I had decided that I officially needed to check into a mental institution.

I couldn't seem to get _him_ off of my mind.

_Paul._

All the time. Every minute of every day, he would just pop up and not go away. I was officially going insane.

And it was all Ana's fault. Her and that stupid kissing booth idea. Of course she was oblivious because all she seemed to be doing is walking around rubbing her face and telling everybody within ear shot about how Paul "from New Moon" kissed her.

It's not like I could tell her anyways, even if she was paying enough attention to see that I was moodier than normal. What would I say? _Oh by the way I've become hopeless because I keep having dreams about the guy you kissed and I'm so envious of the fact that he kissed you that I want to pull my hair out? _Yah, that sounded like it would work out.

She'd probably tell me the same thing I've been telling myself: I'm officially losing it.

My phone started vibrating in my pocket, I thanked God for the distraction.

"Hello?"

"Hey, it's me, Kim." She sounded kind of unsure, maybe she thought I'd forgotten about her.

"Oh hey, are you okay?" I asked, a little worried. "Did your friend ever find his girlfriend?"

"Um, it's complicated."

What's that supposed to mean?

"Anyways, how about last minute dinner tonight?" she asked a little to fast, almost as if she wanted to get off of the subject about her friend. I don't blame her, other people's love lives can be sticky situations. As for me, I had my hands full of my own demented illusions of a certain someone.

"Yah, sure. Do you have any specific place in mind?"

"Nope, I was kind of hoping since your Aunt lives around here you could tell us. Do you mind if I bring a friend?"

"No," the more the merrier was usually my motto. "My Aunt won't be home until late tonight, maybe we should just meet at the restaurant on the corner of 3rd and 8th ?"

"Okay, see you there at around…let's say eightish?"

After agreeing, I hung up the phone and called Ana to tell her. She came over an hour later and we started getting ready. We arrived ten minutes early and Kim was already there.

After introductions, I learned that her friend's name was Claire and they both were from Washington.

"So, what's it like there?" Ana asked, "I heard it's always really rainy?"

They both smiled, "oh yah, the rain never ends," droned Claire.

"My hair would frizz like none other," I stated.

"Yah, we've grown used to always looking bad," laughed Claire. "Good thing our guys won't ever leave us."

I just smiled, "I should hope not if you've already married them."

Kim laughed a little nervously, before the conversation went any farther Ana asked "So Claire, were you the friend that Kim had to go with to go kiss Paul?"

Claire coughed on her water.

I laughed, "I guess that's a no?"

Claire's eyes got really big, "um, yes. I mean, yes as in No, I did not go to kiss Paul."

"To bad," Ana sighed, "I could really have fun talking to somebody about it."

I played with my napkin.

When I looked up I noticed Kim looking oddly at me.

"What?" I asked.

"Nothing," she said.

Hmmm.

"Did you kiss Paul, Talli?" chirped Claire.

It was my turn to cough on the water I was drinking. "Haha, yah right," shouted Ana, "I had to practically beg her just to stand next to me in line."

"Oh, to bad." Sighed Claire, "Paul's pretty good looking, but you can never tell my husband I said that."

We all laughed at that.

"I highly doubt your husband would be jealous of someone you'll never be in the same room with again for the rest of your life, Claire," I said.

Kim laughed at that, "I'd still love to see Quil's reaction Claire." Claire just glared at Kim, which sent her into another fit of laughter.

"Yah well, I don't think anyone will be kissing him anytime soon, I guess he went berserk after we left." said Ana.

Before I could stop myself, I asked: "What?"

She shrugged her shoulders, "Yah, 'the official report'" she said with quoting air fingers, "is that he had an allergic reaction to someone's lipstick, but I sooo know it's because once he kissed me, there was no way he could move on."

I laughed a little nervously, not wanting anyone to catch on to my worry. "I hope he's okay." I heard myself say.

"He is," said Claire, then after a pause, "uh, I read it in some magazine."

"Oh," I let out a secret sigh of relief. I am so hopeless, worrying about someone who doesn't even know about my existence.

Somehow the topic changed and the rest of the night was just as full of laughter and giggling as the start had been. I really had a great time, so by the time it was time to go, I could feel myself wanting to resist leaving the table. Everyone else seemed to feel the same way because we all kept talking about leaving but none of us actually got up to go.

When we really couldn't talk anymore, mainly because the restaurant was closing, we gave hugs and promised to keep in touch. It was very sad, I almost felt like I was in the wrong place, I felt like going with Claire and Kim. Which was weird because never before had I ever put other friends over Ana, but it just didn't seem right.

For the rest of the week I couldn't shake the feeling that I wasn't where I was supposed to be. I felt like something was missing, but I didn't know what. It didn't help that I kept having dreams about Paul. I'd wake up aching to be in his arms, and then I'd start crying because I shouldn't feel this way about a man I didn't even know.

Now that the newness of Paul kissing her had worn off, Ana had started to notice my odd behavior. She'd make comments that I looked terrible or needed to eat more. It got so bad by the third week, she actually threatened to call my mother. I just shrugged.

It wasn't until Ana came running through my door screaming and hollering that I began to take her worry seriously. I was about to apologize when I realized that it wasn't even me that she was freaking out about.

"Can you even believe my luck? I mean REALLY? Can you get over it?"

"What?" I asked, "What can't I get over?"

"I just received a call from none other than the MANAGER of New Moon, saying I won some contest and I get to go meet the band in their home town!!!!!!"

My heart did a little patter, because of course I started to think of Paul. Then it fell into an abyss as I realized that it was Ana who was going to get to meet them.

"I'm so happy for you," I said plastering a stupid, fake, but realistic smile on my face.

"I KNOW RIGHT!" She hollered, jumping up and down like a teenager instead of the twenty-three year old that she was.

"Plus, you haven't even gotten to hear the best part! I get to bring someone with me!!!!"

At this point I sat down, "no way?"

"You are so coming, I know you're not into the whole 'meeting famous people' thing, but you don't have to." She said before I could add a word in edge wise.

"Look at it this way, you can visit with Kim and Claire, they live in Washington and I guess that's where the band lives to! Isn't this just beyond your wildest dreams?"

She prattled on, while my heart went wild in my chest. Would I actually get to meet him? Would I get to shake his hand and hear him talk…to me?

No!

I would go and visit Kim and Claire, but I'm not about to feed my freaky new fan obsessed tendencies, I have a little respect. The last thing I needed was somebody to put a restraining order on me. I would just go and visit friends while Ana visited with the band. Yes, that's exactly what I'd do.

So then why do I feel like I'm making a big mistake?


	3. Chapter 3

Again, thank you to all those that review my chapters. What you have to say is greatly appreciated. I love discussing my characters with others that are as equally passionate about them!

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**Chapter 3:**

We arrived in Washington a little earlier than we expected. It worked out great though, because it gave me a chance to call Kim and Claire before I arrived. I know it's bad, but I hadn't told them about us coming to visit. I really wanted to leave it as a surprise, but figured I needed to get the directions from someone.

"Hello?" I guy with one hell of a sexy voice answered the phone.

"Oh, um hi, is Kim or Claire available?

"KIM," the guy yelled, which had me glaring at the phone at the oh-so-not-sexy-voice anymore. "PHONE FOR YOU!"

After a few moments of which I was seriously freaking that I had lost my hearing, I heard Claire's voice in the background. "Please tell me you covered the phone before you yelled?"

"Uh?" came stupid's reply.

"That's what I thought." She replied as I imagined her taking the phone from him. "Hello?"

"Claire, hey what's up?"

"Oh Talli, long time no hear. How are you?"

"Great, I'm doing pretty good. What about you?"

"Pretty much the same. Hey, sorry about dufus, he has no manners."

I laughed, "It's okay, I've met his twin before."

"Great, then you know exactly what I mean."

"Yah," I said smiling. "Anyways, I'm going to be in the Washington area and was wondering if you or Kim could meet up for dinner or something?"

"What? No way?"

"Yah, sorry it's so last minute, but –"

"Don't worry, we would so love to! Where is your plane coming in at? Wait, you are taking a plain right?"

I smiled again, "Yah, I'm in Seattle."

"Wait, you're already here?" she said in a betrayed voice. "And you didn't call before now?"

"Well, the plane got here early."

"That's no excuse!"

She was making me feel so guilty, maybe I should have called Kim. "So…dinner?"

"YES," she yelled into the phone. "We will so be there, and Lucy, you've got some esplainin to do!"

I could see her making the whole Ricky Ricardo face and I couldn't hold back my smile. "It's your turn to pick the restaurant."

"Yah, yah. I'll have to call Kim first and tell her all about your extravagant drop in and see what time is best for her. How about I call you back in let's say… ten minutes?"

"Mhmm k."

"Wait, make it 20, she's going to be yelling at me for not telling her sooner; then I'll have to explain your illogical logic."

"Sure, what ev," I said ignoring her little jab.

Hanging up, I started looking around the baggage claim for Ana. She was still in the same place that I had left her, cursing her luggage.

"Hey," I said walking up next to her.

"If my luggage is lost…I don't know whether I'll kill someone or cry."

I guess now would be the perfect time to tell her that I've already seen her bag go around twice. But I didn't. You know, payback is sweet.

It took her ten more minutes to realize that she was looking for her usual brown luggage bag, when it was her navy blue that she brought for this trip. She glared at me, I smiled innocently.

"You know what they say about karma…"

"Har, har."

Grabbing our things, we made our way to the car rental place. I let Ana handle all the arrangements; I was horrible with anything that had to do with traveling. I'd wind up getting us a bike instead of a car.

We were just getting into the thick of traffic when my phone started jingling in my pocket. I felt bad, knowing that it was Claire or Kim, but I couldn't stop giving Ana directions long enough to answer it. It wasn't until we were more than half way to Forks that I remembered the phone call.

"Frig, I completely forgot," I cursed grabbing for my phone.

"What?"

"I have to call Claire back."

On the second ring she picked up. "It's about time."

"Sorry."

"Nah, it's okay, don't worry about it."

"Thanks."

"So, how about we meet on 3rd St. at the little deli called Corners, it's so yummy. My mouth is watering just thinking about it."

"Great, I'll just ask for directions. What time?"

"How about 3ish?"

After I agreed we decided to hang up because we didn't want to run out of things to talk about tomorrow, not that I ever thought we would. For some reason I just clicked with Kim and Claire, it just felt natural to talk to them about everything and anything.

Ana said the same thing I was thinking. "You know you've become friends with them pretty fast, it usually takes forever for you to trust someone. I'm starting to feel a little miffed." She pouted.

I patted her shoulder, "stop whining, you're still my bff."

She smiled.

It took us another good hour to arrive in Forks and once we did, we were pretty amazed at the size. It was size, cough, small.

Ana blanched, her dreams of living in a big city with Paul were shot.

My skin shivered at the mention of his name. It was almost as if I could sense he was in the area. I shook my head chuckling at my own ridiculousness. I really needed to get a grip on reality.

"I hope we get a room." Ana said, breaking the silence.

"You mean you didn't call ahead of time?" as she shook her head, I could feel myself getting angry. "Why not?"

"The place said it didn't take reservations."

I stared at her in disbelief. "I'm not lying," she rolled her eyes.

"Ugh, I knew we should have just taken the room they offered in Seattle." I complained.

"Why? I want to be well rested for my meeting with the band tomorrow, there's no way I'll want to get in a car and drive two hours when I can just stay here over night."

"You wouldn't have had to, there was the limo remember?"

"Limo, schmimo. I just want to see them sooner. A two hour car ride would've taken away from the quality time I could be spending with them."

I looked to the sky, "why, oh why, am I your friend?"

"Because I make your life complete."

It was my turn to roll my eyes. "Sure you are."

"Oh quit being whiny, let's go see about those rooms."

We ended up getting the only room they had, and I had a feeling that the entire town would know about us by tomorrow morning. The lady behind the desk was ultra nosey, going so far as to ask us if we were a lesbian couple. I wanted to give her a piece of my mind, but Ana kicked my shin to stop me.

It did the job.

To say my sleep was uncomfortable would have been an understatement. I kept hearing wolves howling, which only helped to remind me off the sound track of New Moon's latest CD. It had a lot of references to wolves, mostly sang in Paul's deep baritone. I tossed and turn, thinking about his voice most of the night. By the time morning hit, I really didn't have to wake up because I had never really gone to sleep.

"Woah, you definantly need to put some make-up on girly." Ana said mocking a person in horror. I glared, making my way into the bathroom. She laughed, "A smile wouldn't kill you."

By the time I had finished with my morning routine of getting ready, I felt rejuvenated. Walking out of the bathroom, I heard Ana talking on the phone with someone.

"Really, that would be great!"

...

"Are you sure he wouldn't mind?"

...

" Heck yah, anytime, I –"

…

"Okay, downstairs in two hours."

When she hung up, she was smiling like I had never seen. "You will never believe what just happened!"

"You won more tickets?"

"Haha, No!" she said bouncing off the bed. "I just got off the phone with the Manager. I told him about me already being in Forks and I guess he said the band wanted to meet with me earlier then!!!!!"

"That's great," I said as she grabbed my hands and started jumping up and down. "What are you going to wear?"

Horror crossed her face. "What do you mean? I was planning on wearing this." She looked down at her wardrobe.

"Oh," I said, noticing it for the first time. "That'll be great."

"What do you mean," she whined, dropping my arms to flee to her luggage and grabbing random articles of clothing. "How can I wear something even a _girl_ doesn't notice?"

I sighed, what had I done? "You should know by now, that I have the worst fashion sense." She didn't even act like she heard me, so I went on. "Hello, I don't count, I'm sure it's a very noticeable outfit to the average girl."

Silence.

"Okay, I'm going to go to the gas station down the road for some caffeine, do you want anything."

A zipper being tugged back. Socks being thrown.

"K, bye," I left the room.

It was a whole two minute walk to the little gas station, if one doesn't include being sidetracked by the nosey questions from the motel owner. Walking down the sidewalks, I got the overall impression that the town was very quant.

I liked it.

When I got back to the room, I made sure to notice Ana's new outfit and comment on how perfect it was for the occasion. She smiled, I turned around rolling my eyes so she didn't see me.

We watched TV and talked until about ten minutes before the approximate time that Ana was supposed to be picked up. I stood up, stretching from off of the bed. "Do you mind if I leave before they get here? I don't want to have to go through awkward introductions." Secretly I was praying that I wouldn't run into Paul.

"Oh, Talli how can you be my best friend when you're sooo unsociable?"

Like I haven't heard this before. I answered the same as I always did, "it's because of my donor kidney one day."

"Oh yah," she smiled, as if she never heard me say that.

I picked up my purse and headed out the door. I was turning the corner, down my road, when I noticed a group of guys in my rearview mirror walking out of the woods. There was no doubt in my mind as to who they were. I had only seen one other group of males that looked that scrumptious and they were definantly the reason my butt was moving in the opposite direction. I didn't need that fan lust complication in my life, I was beyond that. All I want for myself is normal.

I decided to get out of town as soon as possible, so I took the first turn that came my way. I ended up by some rocky beaches, but they were beautiful. I decided to stop and admire the view, regardless of the mist that would frizz my hair up in a minute. I wasted away most of the day just throwing pebbles into the water and reading on a log. I barely noticed the time passing by. I decided to head back to the car and see if it was time for lunch yet, when I saw the late time on the clock.

I froze. There was no way that much time had passed.

I grabbed my cell phone out of my pocket to double check the time. My eyes popped. No way. I checked my bars for service, nothing.

Great, at this rate, I was so going to be late. I could head out now and make it in time but not without directions. Frig.

I dashed to the car and prayed that I'd hit the nearest town. I made it to what looked to be a tinnier town than Forks, if that was even possible. I stopped at the only store and asked for a phone. The man behind the counter was very friendly and gave me his land line. Using my cell phone index, I called Claire.

"Hello?"

"Thank heavens," I let out a gush of air. "Have you left yet for Seattle?"

"Talli, is this you?" Claire asked, "and no."

"Good, okay. I hate to do this but I made a stupid decision and spent the day at a beach in," not knowing the name of the town I asked the man behind the counter. "Where am I?"

He smiled, "you'd be on the Quileute Rez."

"Oh," I smiled back, "Thanks."

"Um, Claire?"

"Yah, I'm still here."

"So I'm on some tribal reservation outside of Forks, do have any idea how long it'll take me to get to Seattle from here? I'm so sorry I just lost track of time and"

"Wait. Stop.," Claire said into my ear. "Are you telling me that you're on the Quileute Reservation?"

I wanted to hit myself in the back of the head, for being so careless. I was probably hours away from Seattle and now I wouldn't get to meet up with Claire and Kim. Letting out a sigh, "Yes."

Silence

"I'm so sorry."

"You have got to be joking! That's great!" I could hear Claire screaming into the phone for Kim to come stand by her.

"Hello, earth to Talli! Kim and I live on the Rez, hence the dark skin tone!"

I think my mind blanked for a moment.

"Hello?"

Silence

"Hello?"

"Oh let me see the phone…HELLO!!!!!" yelled Kim into my ear, effectively jarring me out of my stunned state.

"Yah," I said rubbing my ear. "Ouch Kim, no need for the harshness."

"Where are you?" I heard Claire ask in the background of the phone.

"Uh," I looked around. "A little gas station?"

"Oh my gosh, she's at Erik's," I heard Kim gasp.

"Haha, tell her we'll be there in a minute to pick her up," Claire hollered from a distance.

"Did you catch that?" asked Kim

"Yah," I smiled. "I'll be waiting, and don't take your time either!"

She laughed, "See yah soon," and hung up the phone.

They arrived in a manner of minutes. I was blushing as they pulled up next to my car, I couldn't believe my stupidity paid off.

"Well, look what the cat dragged in," smiled Kim as she got out of the car to give me a hug.

"And here you thought you'd skip having to visit with us by pretending to be lost." joked Claire.

I glared at her, but it wasn't very effective since I was still smiling. "I can't believe my luck."

"We can't either, now come on, get in your car and follow us back to Claire's." said Kim as she pushed me in the direction of the only other vehicle in the parking lot.

When we arrived at Claire's I was surprised at what I saw. I guess I was expecting an apartment or something equally as tiny, but what I saw was a huge, new, two story house.

"Wowzer," I whistled as I got out of the car. "How did you afford this? You must have yourself a sugar daddy."

"Yah, something like that," Kim murmured as she walked pass me. My eyebrow rose up on its own. "Explain?"

Claire moaned, "Kim loves to make things complicated." My eyebrow just rose higher.

"My husband and I have been saving up since…we were younger." Said Claire, and Kim laughed ahead of her. "Yah, you were _both_ so... young."

"Still," I said, breaking up the eye war. "I don't see how two teenagers could save up so much money to, what? Did you guys build this house because it has to be that new?"

"Yah," mumbled Claire.

I was kind of skeptical; they had to have inherited money or something in order to have been able to afford to build such a nice house. Lucky dogs, maybe they were just too modest to talk about finances.

Ignoring the questions I was dying to ask, I followed Kim into Claire's house.

If it was big on the outside, that was nothing compared to the inside. I could spread my arms out and twirl around, and still not hit any walls. I almost wanted to, but I didn't. Instead I asked, "How many guys live here?"

Both Kim and Claire seemed to be taken aback by my question because they both seemed to whip their heads in my direction simultaneously.

"Woah, whiplash," I chuckled.

"Wha…What do you mean?"

I returned the strange look that both of them seemed to be giving me, "Uh, what was my first hint you mean? Well, let's see," I started ticking off my fingers. "One, all the furniture is male furniture, so it doesn't break. Two, I can see the remote hiding under the couch and only guys do that to hide it from other guys. Three, the rug over there is flipped over, which means there's probably a stain. Which also means it had to have been a guy that did it because a girl would have hurried to get it cleaned up whereas a guy just flips stuff over and calls it good. Four…"

"Okay, okay we get the point," smiled Kim.

"What damn rug," Claire said running around flipping her rugs over.

"The orange and brown one in the hallway," I said using my head to point in that general direction.

She glared, "Damn Seth, I'm going to kill him the next time I see him."

"Why do you automatically blame him?" Kim asked.

"Because I didn't know why, at the time, but he asked me if I really liked the colors orange and brown."

I laughed my ass off, "I hope you said they were your favorite."

Claire scowled harder, "I said they were okay…for Halloween."

Now Kim was holding her gut right alongside me. "Oh boy, this is just too good," I said bent over in laughter.

Cursing what seemed to be a group of guys and not just this poor man named Seth, Claire grabbed the rug and brought it into what must have been the utility room.

I whispered to Kim, "I wish I could see what she does to poor Seth, when she gets her hands on him."

"Maybe I'll videotape it for you."

We were still in the middle of laughing when I felt my cell-phone vibrating in my pocket. Grabbing it, not bothering to check the caller ID, I opened it to my ear. "Yup?"

"OH MY GOSH!"

Ana.

"I take it that things went well?"

"Are you kidding me, they went SUPERB!" She shouted in my ear. "Well, accept the whole Paul thing."

I stopped tapping my foot on the floor at the mention of Paul's name. "What happened with him? Is he okay? Did he have to go to the hospital?"

Kim stopped laughing and gave me a worried look.

"Woah," Ana said, a little too slow in getting to the point for my liking. "He was fine. In fact, he was all smiles when we were introduced but then he asked me where my friend was. Let's just say the shit hit the fan when I told him I was alone. He flipped, and ended up leaving."

"Why," I asked curiously.

"The manager told me it was because he didn't like the thought of me traveling alone in the countryside, isn't that soooo sweet." Ana crooned. "I totally forgave him after that. I mean, you can't blame a guy for worrying."

I let out a breath, shaking my head so Kim would know not to worry. She smiled and went towards the direction of the kitchen. Meanwhile, I was taking silent breaths in and out to calm my hay-wired nerves.

"I never did get around to telling them I didn't come alone," she added. "They were all too busy bombarding me with questions."

I rolled my eyes, I could just see Ana soaking it all up. A little part of me was relieved, if I let myself acknowledge it, because I was worried that fate would be cruel and have Paul and Ana wind up falling in love.

Good fate. I imagined myself patting a dog on the head.

"So what about you, are you in Seattle yet?"

"Um, I actually didn't make it that far."

"I told you that you should have warned Kim and Claire that you were coming at least a week in advance." Ana said, in her patronizing tone of voice. "That's what you get for not listening."

My eyes narrowed, "Um, but excuse you. I'm with them right now, Mom."

"What?"

"Yah, I got lost and come to find out, I was lost in the town they live in."

"So are you at their house or something?"

"That I am."

"Well, then I guess we both got lucky today."

"Yah," I said wistfully, thinking how much luckier I'd be if tall, dark, and handsome came walking through the door to sweep me of my feet. I just about passed out when the door opened and a man, the likely twin to Hercules, walked through the door.

I squeaked.

Everyone in the room looked at me, including Mr. Handsome. Ana squawked in my ear, "Damn it, that hurt my ear."

He smiled, "Hello."

I nodded. Why did I nod, I have no frigging clue. It just seemed appropriate.

He laughed, he must have been used to stupid girls gawking at him.

"I'm Quil," he said, extending his hand. I took his hand to shake and stopped right in the middle, realizing whose hand it was, that I was shaking. He must have noticed because he gave me one of those universal male grins and shrugged his shoulders as if to say, "sorry I can't help who I am."

Yah, buddy, you can't. But, I turned to glare at Claire and Kim…they can.


	4. Chapter 4

Many thanks to those that review my chapters. I can honestly say that I started writing this story for my own enjoyment, but now I find myself wondering what everyone else thinks. As always, I hope you enjoy this chapter.

**Chapter 4:**

"Ana," I said very calmly into the phone.

"Uh oh," she whispered. "I don't like that tone of voice. What happened?"

Ignoring her question, I said, "I'm going to have to call you back in a little bit."

"Don't you dare!"

"Bye," I said, hitting the end button, as three sets of eyes looked on at me.

I looked at Claire, "Since we're at your house, I'm assuming you'll be the one explaining."

She blushed.

It was Kim that spoke first, "Quil is Claire's husband."

"Okay."

I think I confused her with my response, hell, I confused myself.

"And I'm married to Jared."

I didn't know what else to say, so I repeated my previous statement. "Okay."

"And I take it you realized already that Quil plays in the band New Moon?"

"Mhmm," I murmured sarcastically.

Kim's forehead wrinkled in what I assumed was irritation. Good, I thought, I'm glad you could join the club.

I heard the door behind Quil open, but I ignored it. I knew that if I turned around and saw another band member, I just might go biserk. Trust was a huge issue with me, and right now I felt more than a little betrayed.

"Well, now you know what buddy we were trying to support at the kissing booth," Claire said with a fake laugh. I would have laughed any other time, but not now.

"Were you planning on telling me?" I kept my voice insanely level, because I was infamous for my temper when it ever did eventually boil over. I grew up with a bad temper and as I got older I learned how to rein it in. I've been called, more than once, a cold hearted bitch that never showed emotion, but that's because of my control. Only true childhood friends like Ana knew what I was capable of when I lost control of my temper.

Everyone's silence answered my question, and I was hurt.

"I know it sounds cliché, but it's not what you think Talli." Kim stated, walking slowly towards me, as if I might bite.

I quirked and eyebrow, as if to say "isn't it?"

"It's hard for us not to keep the band a secret, it comes naturally to us. It's nothing against you."

I didn't say anything and I could tell Kim was losing her patience, by the way she put her hands on her hips. "Honestly, what did you expect me to do? Walk up and say 'Hi, I'm Kim, you know, Jared for New Moon's wife.'"

"Sarcasm, doesn't really work on me Kim." I replied.

She narrowed her eyes.

"Okay, woah, stop Kim." Quil held out his hands between the two of us. What did he think? We weren't going to get into some kind of cat fight.

"The way I see it, you're both wrong."

Okay, he _was_ sexy. As in, NO longer.

"Quil, you better," Kim started to say but was cut off by Quil's "sh" sound. I smiled, man would I be pissed if I were her. Glancing at Kim, I could see that she was red in the face.

"You," he said, pointing at me, "are wrong. These two are used to people using them to get to us, you can hardly blame them for not saying something."

I crossed my arms over my chest, in a very pissed off stance because I knew he was right and there was nothing I could do.

He went on, "and you two are wrong because you expect her to just get over it, like it's no big deal."

Kim glared at Quil but Claire walked up to him and kissed him passionately on the lips. "That was such a turn on," she said aloud.

"Damn," I said pretending to fan myself. "I'm pissed off at him and even I know that was a major turn on."

Claire and Kim smiled at me, recognizing the peace offering as it was intended. Quil just looked at me as if he had to fend me off from jumping on him.

Some one cleared their throat behind me. Turning around for the first time, I recognized one of the other band members. I smiled when I remembered his name, because I knew he was in for a load of trouble.

"SETH!" screeched, Claire, "you better have a great explanation about my rug."

It took him a second, then he physically blanched, "I didn't do anything! Quil's the one that knocked over my hotdog, he's should be the one to get punished."

Claire's glare turned to her husband, "what have you got to say?"

"Uh, I was going to buy a new one?" he said meekly.

"What? Are you insane, the whole point is that we wouldn't have to buy a new one if you just cleaned up after yourself!" she yelled.

"Yah, even a dog licks himself clean, Quil." Kim smiled evilly at him, Quil scowled back. Okay, it must have been some sort of private joke.

Looking back at Claire, Quil wheedled, "Come on baby, I'll make it up to you in our acceptance speech at the Grammies."

"I think Beyonce should have won," Seth piped in.

I laughed hard at his imitation of Kanye West. Kim and Claire joined in, but it wasn't until I looked at the guys that I realized they weren't used to my piercing laugh. I instantly sobered.

Blushing, I said, "Uh, sorry. I know my laugh's really obnoxious, I try to control it."

They were both still staring at me as if I had two heads. "What," I said, starting to get defensive.

Quil was the first to talk, "Where did you say you met Claire?"

"Uh," I looked at the girls, who were now giving the guys weird looks.

"I met her at a gas station when we went for Paul's…" Kim trailed off, then suddenly whipped her head back towards me. "No, way."

"No, way what?" I said, feeling totally out of the loop. Whatever it was, it took Claire only a half a second later to gasp and say, "Shut up!"

"Shut up what?" I questioned.

They all ignored me as Quil barked at Seth, "Go." Seth didn't hesitate, he didn't even bother putting on his shoes before he ran out the door.

"Okay, what is going on? Where did Seth go?"

Again, Quil ignored me, asking instead, "Do you have a best friend named Ana?"

My eyes narrowed, I looked past him to the girls. "Is this some kind of weird joke that only people from Washington get?"

They smiled, reassuring me that I wasn't completely insane.

"Yah, she does, we've met her," Claire answered for me. "Oh, this is so exciting," she slapped her hands together.

"Yah, it must be, if you're in on the secret," I said a little louder than necessary.

"I thought your friend said she came alone?" Quil questioned.

I was getting really angry at him ignoring me.

"No, she said I wasn't with her. Which I wasn't, because I'm here." I said, stating the obvious.

They all just stared at me.

"Um, I'm going to call Ana and see what's up, since none of you want to fill me in on the little secret." I hinted, waiting for them to apologize and explain to me what was going on.

They didn't, so I huffed, walking towards the door.

"STOP," hollered Quil from two feet away from me. Effectively scaring the hell out of me.

"What's your problem," I said grabbing my chest. "Holy shit, don't ever do that again."

"Uh," he looked at me dumbly.

"What he means," Claire said, stepping around him. "Is that you should invite Ana over for dinner."

I looked at them all as if they had lost their minds, because I was really starting to wonder. "Yah, okay." I made my way to walk again, but stopped mid-step. I turned and walked back towards Quil. Once I was right in front of him, I said, "Watch out Quil, pay back's a bitch."

Then I walked out the door.


	5. Chapter 5

Hi everyone, it's me again. I just wanted to publically thank all the people that have been reviewing my chapters. It is greatly appreciated. Having said that, I just wanted to give a shout out to one of my reviewers: Moonstarr394; she made me want to mention sporks in this chapter. Now I'll say I hope you enjoy, because I know you're all dying to meet the infamous Paul.

**Chapter 5:**

"Are you sure he said 'go'?" asked Ana into my ear.

"No Ana, I decided to make up the last part because it flows better with my story." I replied sarcastically.

"No need for the attitude," she hissed into the phone.

"Well, what do you expect?" I said twirling a piece of wood I had found on the porch steps.

"If I were you, I'd just be happy knowing that we now have an 'in' with the BAND!" she exclaimed. Just, like she had when I told her about Kim and Claire's connection to New Moon.

I dropped the twig and started rubbing my forehead, pacing on the deck. "Something's not right."

"Oh, you're so paranoid," whined Ana.

"It's not that," I paused. "I feel like…I don't know."

"Very intuitive," she said.

I glared into space. "Just because this is your dream, doesn't mean that it's mine."

"Oh my gosh," she whispered. "Do you even realize what this means?" I heard shuffling in the background.

"What?" I asked.

"I could hook up with Paul!"

I didn't move.

"I have to go change clothes and get ready for dinner." She sighed, "This could be the moment I've been waiting for my entire life!"

I heard the dial tone before I realized that I was having a mini panic attack. Paul and Ana. Ana and Paul. My mind blanked at the possibility. My life would be hell, it's bad enough that I'm having dreams about a famous stranger but to have dreams about my best friend's LOVER!

No, calm down, they aren't lovers.

They won't be.

They can't be.

I felt like kicking the dog that was fait, forget about patting his freaking head!

Grabbing for the nearest object, because I felt like I was about to pass out, my hand hit a hot solid surface. Instinct had me pulling back, but something grabbed my wrist.

When I looked up to see what it was, my mind registered only two things.

There, standing right in front of me, was Paul.

And, he was touching my hand.

I had to have passed out already and bumped my head. There was no way that I wasn't dreaming.

"Are you okay?" he asked looking deep into my eyes. I could see the little wrinkles scrunched up on his forehead, so I knew he was seriously worried.

Worried. Of course he was worried! Didn't Ana say he flipped out when she said she was alone. He's just a compassionate guy. I closed my eyes in embarrassment. You are such a loser Talli. Of course he wouldn't touch you unless he was concerned for your health.

Was it so bad that I suddenly wanted the flu?

His other hand touched my forehead and I jumped back, effectively jabbing myself with the porch railing.

"Ow," I yelped. "Shit, ow, shit, owwww." I repeated rubbing my back. Damn that hurt.

"Stupid railing," I glared, as if it would scurry away.

"Nawh," Paul smiled, walking over to the railing and patting it. "I heard he went to school before he got this job."

Was he joking? He was joking with me. Paul, my dream man, was smiling and joking with me. I couldn't suppress my smile.

He grinned back.

I smiled larger.

His grin got bigger.

I blushed.

He laughed out loud. Extending his hand, he said, "My name's Paul."

Still blushing I replied, "I'm Talliah."

"Talliah." He said it like a caress, or at least that's how I prefer to think that he said it, while still holding my hand. "I like that a lot."

I liked it a lot to… when he said it.

"Most people just call me Talli." I said lamely.

"Do you want me to be like most people?" he said huskily.

I felt the urge to faint again. What did he mean by that?

Ignoring his own question he asked, "Are you staying for dinner?"

"Of course she is." We both turned to see four people grinning in the doorway.

I officially wanted to blend in with the house. I pulled my hand away from Paul's and said to no one in particular, "Ana's coming over."

Paul looked at me like he was confused by my statement. I smiled meekly, "She's my friend that you met earlier today. She really loves your music."

He tensed, "your friend."

"Yah," I said because there was nothing left to say.

"Why weren't you with her," he practically growled at me.

"Paul," Quil said from the doorway at the same time I replied, "I'm not into meeting famous people."

"What?" he shivered as Quil took a few steps forward.

I sent Claire and Kim a curious look. "I'm not into the whole celebrity thing. I think it's rude and overrated. If it were up to me, people wouldn't give out autographs, it's all just a big invasion of privacy."

He grinned. My heart staggered a little.

"A girl after my own heart," he said quietly, but the rest of us heard him.

There was a slight awkward silence until Seth cleared his throat, "So, when is dinner?"

"We're kind of waiting on Ana," said Claire.

"Don't worry," I looked at Paul. "She wouldn't miss this for the world."

"She's a big fan of the band," said Quil, "we appreciate her…enthusiasm."

I smiled, trying to cover the hurt of what I was about to say. "No, she's a big fan of Paul's."

He looked at me, as if trying to figure out what I was thinking. To be honest, it was a little unnerving. It was almost as if he could read my mind, even though I knew he couldn't. It's just that the intensity of his look spoke volumes, and it took my breath away.

"I'm glad she likes my music," he said, then walked into the house, leaving the rest of us to watch his retreating back.

I didn't know what to think. I was in a house with one of the most sought after bands in the country and all I could keep thinking was of a way to escape. It really was true what people say about fight or flight response, I was defiantly feeling the need to leave.

The only problem was, every time I took a step to leave, I'd look up and Paul would be watching me. Then I wouldn't want to leave, because he made me feel comfortable.

No! He wasn't supposed to make me feel comfortable. Hello, earth to Talli, wasn't this a sign of unhealthy obsession. Being attracted to a famous guy was one thing, but imagining your entire life with him, and being serious about it, was on a completely different scale.

Ana didn't take long to get here, not that I ever doubted she would. She hadn't even pulled into the driveway and Seth hollered, "She's finally here, can we eat now?"

"She's not here," I said looking out the window, only to be surprised two minutes later when her ride came pulling up.

"Wow Seth, you have great hearing," I commented walking to open the door. I chuckled, a little, seeing who Ana was in the car with. Looking over my shoulder, I said to Kim, "I completely forgot that I took the car, she had to get a ride with the nosey motel owner."

"Is that woman bothering you?" snarled a voice from right behind me. I turned quickly to see Paul glaring out the window.

"Kripes," I jumped. "Stop doing that!" I shoved him in the chest to get my point across.

We both froze.

I did not just touch him?

Did I?

I did.

Oh my gosh, I touched him like we were old buddies and now he's probably thinking I'm one of those crazy fans that wants to cut off a piece of his hair in the middle of the night and sell it on Ebay.

I was mortified.

He just kept staring at my hands like I had soiled him by touching him.

"I'm sorry," I murmured. "I just reacted –"

"Don't be," he snapped. I flinched.

He tensed.

"K, now Talli," Seth said, appearing out of thin air, pushing me towards the door. "Go get your friend so I can finally eat."

As I walked the rest of the way out the door, I looked back to see Seth laughing in Paul's face. I blushed; they were so talking about me. Before I had another chance to humiliate myself, I dove out the door in search of my best friend.

"Kill me now," I said walking up to her.

"Why," she looked confused. "That would just ruin an otherwise, perfect day."

"For you maybe," I mumbled.

Ignoring me, she said, "Don't get out of the car, don't get out of the car, don't get – damn it!"

Looking in the general direction of the car, it wasn't hard to figure out that Ana was talking about the nosey motel owner.

"If that woman tries to get in on my once in a life time meal," she ground her teeth, "I'll poke her to death with a spork."

Tisking her with my finger, I said, "So violent."

"You would be to, if you had to ride with her for a half an hour!" she growled under her breath.

I smirked.

Well, at least until the woman set her eyes on me, then I gulped.

"Hi dear," she said, walking in my direction. From the corner of my eye, I could see Ana about to make her get-way towards the house. Nuh uh, if I have to suffer through this, so does she. Grabbing onto her arm, so she wouldn't leave, I plastered a fake smile onto my face.

"Hello," I didn't bother asking how she was doing; she'd probably go on for hours complaining.

"I see you made friends with the local celebrities," she nodded in the direction of the house.

I stiffened a little, this is not the opinion I wanted people to have of me. I didn't want people to think I was just out to meet the band.

"Actually," I said politely, maybe a little too polite. "I came to visit with some of my friends."

She smiled like any old lady would, that was evil and conniving. "I'm sure you did sweetheart."

Before I could try out the Karate Kid's infamous karate move on her, Claire hollered out from the porch. "You two better come inside, Seth's going insane from hunger." Then she waved, "Thank you Mrs. Dits for bringing Ana to us. Have a great day."

When Claire just turned around and walked back into the house, I think we were all a little stunned. I jumped out of it first, so I just said good bye and left Ana to stand there as I followed in Claire's footsteps. Haha, I thought, every woman for themselves.

My solitary walk up the steps didn't last too long, because I heard hurried steps behind me and a fast thank you.

"What kind of friend are you?" Ana hissed once she caught up to me.

"A smarter one evidently," I grinned. "Since I had the hindsight to grab your arm when you tried the same thing."

Her eyes narrowed at the same time that we heard "HUMPH!" and a car door slamming behind us.

I was about to place my hand on the door, but Ana stopped me.

"Wait," she said twirling. "How do I look?"

For the first time in my life I wanted to tell her she looked hideous, disgusting, even a little bit unattractive. Maybe then, she would turn around and never have to talk to Paul again.

Instead, I smiled and said, "You look beautiful, go knock 'em dead."

She grinned and opened the door to go inside. I stood out on the porch for a second, wondering if I should have gone with Mrs. Dits. I didn't want to have to watch my best friend drool over the guy I have an unhealthy, secret obsession with.

I groaned.

Yes, anything had to be the lesser evil to this.


	6. Chapter 6

As always, I want to thank my readers that review. I really do hope you guys enjoy my story.

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**Chapter 6:**

I sat across the table from Paul the entire dinner. Needless to say, it was hard to stay focused.

Many times I just wanted to jump across the table and throw myself at him in passionate abandonment. The closest I got to fulfilling that, was nervously scooping potatoes onto his plate.

Ana didn't seem to be having any problem though, in fact she was on cloud nine the entire night. To my personal dismay, she ran and sat immediately next to Paul, at the start dinner. I ignored it. Well, as best I could.

I purposely situated myself next to Seth, hoping that his happiness would rub off on me. It didn't work though, because I totally under estimated his love for food. It might be the one thing that surpasses his love for talking.

The conversation was never dull, partly because Ana was talking the entire time. By this stage in my life I've pretty much grown accustomed to ignoring her endless rants but I found myself trying really hard to listen this time, for some reason.

That 'some reason' happened to be the Mr. Tall Dark & Handsome sitting across from me. Every time I seemed to wonder away from the conversation, I found myself starring at him. When I finally noticed my own ogling, I'd blush because Paul would be looking right back at me.

He was probably counting all the times, in his head, so he could fill out an accurate report for the restraining order.

I wanted to get up and leave so many times.

I didn't.

Instead, I just sat there in my own misery. I don't think I said one more word other than my original "thank you" to Claire for the dinner.

"You've been quiet," said a husky voice from across the table.

I looked up only because I knew Paul was talking. I'd memorized the brilliance that was his voice. I'm pretty sure that I could get into a car accident on my way home tomorrow and lose my eyesight, but it would be okay because I'd know his voice anywhere.

Imagine my surprise when I looked up to see the entire table looking at me. Everyone seemed to be grinning from ear to ear, accept Ana. Ana seemed to be pouting, she must have been put out that Paul wasn't talking to her instead.

"Uh," I said lamely, looking at all their faces, waiting for one of the girls to say something and save me.

They were a bunch of itchbays, none of them said a word.

Okay, back to my brilliance. "I was just thinking."

Paul pulled back his sleeves and put his elbows on the table. "About what?"

Momentarily distracted by his newly exposed, sexy, dark skin, I stuttered. "Restraining orders."

Everyone stilled.

Seth choked on the food he was eating.

My eyes bulged, I did not just say that. I groaned and tried slapping Seth's back, not that it helped. He coughed for a few more minutes, and I was happy to be preoccupied with getting him back to breathing, because I could feel everybody's eyes on me.

I tried ignoring everyone, but it was pretty hard to do after Seth calmed down. There was just silence for a few moments before Seth asked, "Why were you thinking of restraining orders?"

"You know," Kim said, effectively saving me from my doom, "she was probably wondering about whether or not the band has any on their crazy fans. I know that when I got with Jared, I was wondering the same thing."

I didn't know whether to run up and hug her for saving my butt or laugh out loud because she seemed to be pointedly staring at Ana when she said the part about crazy fans. In the end I chose to just nod my head in agreement and give Kim a brilliant smile.

"Yah," Quil said, rolling with the topic. "We have, I think, around ten restraining orders."

"Really?" I said shocked. "I never would have guessed."

"You don't ever have to worry when you're with us," Paul said quickly.

"Yah," agreed Seth between mouthfuls of food. "You could say we've got the tightest security available."

"Sorry," I said. "I don't buy the whole 'tight security' routine. It's usually when the girl in the movie has the most security around her that she gets kidnapped or killed. Forget it! I wouldn't feel safe unless there was someone with superpowers in the room with me."

Seth coughed again but this time it was Quil who pounded on his back. Looking at him, I said, "You need to slow down, so you don't choke so much on your food."

"Talli," Ana kicked my shin under the table.

I winced.

A dog growled.

Wait, Claire has a dog? I ducked my head under the table, expecting some four legged creature of the hairy variety.

Nothing. Hmm?

"Claire," I said, looking around the table for the dog. "Where's your dog?"

Okay, it's official, Seth does not know how to consume food properly, he was coughing again. Claire seemed shocked at what I said and Kim was smirking.

Pounding Seth's back, Quil said, "We don't have a pet."

"But I do see a lot of dogs around here," Kim commented.

"Kim," all the guys said in unison.

"What?" she said innocently, a little too innocently. She must have a good story on them about dogs, if she could get that kind of response out of them.

"What?" I asked, before I had time to think of how nosey I was being. "Is there some kind of funny story about you guys and dogs?"

I didn't have a chance to hear anyone's reply, I was immediately distracted by Paul. He was coughing on either his food or water. My mind registered the fact that these people really didn't know how to chew their food, but it was only for a second before terror set in. My Paul was choking.

I jumped out of the chair, running immediately to the other side of the table. Not even pausing, I started hitting Paul on the back.

My mind was going crazy. Did people actually die from choking on food? I heard people could, but could they die if there was a room full of other people?

No. There was no way. Was I pounding his back hard enough? He was warm. Weren't people who are dying supposed to get cold? Am I doing this right?

I was about to start crying and beg for some help, but then I heard the most beautiful noise in the world. Paul inhaled.

I sighed, about ten-thousand weights were being lifted from off of my chest. He was fine. He was breathing and he was okay.

Maybe I would cry after all, from pure relief.

"Uh, Talli?" Ana whispered.

I was about to ask what, but instead I froze. I already knew what.

Abruptly turning, I headed back in the direction of my seat. My face was on fire, and there was no way in hell, I was going to look anyone in the eyes. I cannot believe I just overreact so badly. Oh my gosh, I wish it was possible for people to die from embarrassment. That way I wouldn't have to sit here, with my head down, in awkward silence.

"So anyways," Ana started talking, "about what I was saying before."

I looked up at her, to see her give me a quick reassuring smile.

I loved this woman; she was the most perfect best friend in existence. She knew how embarrassed I was and this is her way of making it better. Now I wanted to cry for a whole other reason.

Soon everyone was talking again, but I didn't dare say another word. I sat in silence for the rest of the night, completely content to stare at my food and listen to everyone else.

It didn't escape my notice that Paul didn't talk at all either. I secretly prayed that it wasn't because his throat hurt from choking. Logic told me it was because he had nothing to say, but I'm pretty sure he thought I was a freakily obsessed fan that would attack him at any moment if he said anything else. Hence, him not speaking.

I couldn't get up fast enough, when Ana said she thought it was time to go. I was half way to the door, already thanking Claire for the meal when Paul interrupted.

"Talliah," he said, his deep baritone capturing my attention, more so, than my name on his lips. "Can I talk to you outside for a minute?"

Oh frig.

I wanted to say 'no,' but somehow I knew that wouldn't stop him from taking me outside anyway. The idea of being outside in the dark with a complete stranger that was twice my size should have scared me, but I had to fight my illogical brain from getting too turned on. It would be just the two of us, alone on the porch. How could I be anything but ecstatic?

No Talli. I started cursing myself, in my head, as I followed Paul outside. You are not supposed to be acting this way. You are a mature adult.

Yah, my obsessive side argued, and so is he.

I sighed, he looked over his shoulder. It was a nice shoulder.

Oh my gosh, I closed my eyes. I have so surpassed Ana in her obsessive tendencies.

Stopping, Paul sat on the porch railing, waiting for me to catch up.

I'd be lying if I said I didn't slow down. What? You can't blame me, there's no doubt in my mind that he's about to break it off?

Holy frig! Did I just say 'break it off?' There is nothing to break off! Oh my gosh, I need to take the next flight home, I was getting way to comfortable with this whole hypothetical obsessive relationship thing.

What I meant to say, I said to myself, is that he's probably going to tell me to stop stalking him or he's whipping a restraining order out on my ass.

It's time to face the music. "Yah?" I murmured.

He stopped leaning on the railing, which made our bodies get closer together. I took a step back. Okay, I was good at talking myself out of obsessive tendencies, but I don't know how good I'd be at persuading myself if I was that close to his warm body.

"I wanted to thank you," he said huskily.

My head popped up. I wanted to ask him if he was serious, but I wasn't about to jinx the entire situation.

It looked like he was waiting for me to say something, but I was at a loss for words.

"Uh um," I stuttered. "I'm sure Ana would have beaten me to it, if she'd been paying closer attention."

"Ana," he growled, his shoulders getting tense as he looked through one of the house windows. "She kicked you today."

Yah, I was there, I thought, remembering the pain in my shin. I almost wanted to start rubbing it again.

Wait. Hold up. Stop the bus.

"Did you just growl?" I asked.

"No," his mouth said, forming a cute little 'oh' with his lips.

I grinned. "You are so lying," I stepped closer.

"No I'm not," he tried to look innocent.

"You so are," I laughed, standing on my tip toes to get a better view of his face. "Ah hah!" I said, pointing my finger at his mouth. "I can see a little bit of a smile coming out."

His face cracked and in the next instant he was grinning.

I was grinning to, "I can't believe you made me think there was a dog roaming around the house!"

He laughed.

"I am so getting you back for that!" I laughed with him.

"No, please don't," he mocked in fake terror.

Our laughter started to fade before I realized how close we were to one another, I went to take a step back but Paul grabbed my arm.

"Why do you keep doing that?" he said, sobering instantly.

"What?" I asked, pretending to be oblivious.

His eyes narrowed, "You know what."

I pulled my eyebrows together in, what I knew was, a great expression of confusion.

"Are you afraid of me?"

My head shot up from where my eyes were level with his chest. "No," I said before thinking it through.

"Good." He smiled, "Then is it because I make you nervous?"

"No," this time I said it too fast for a completely different reason. That reason being because he could never know how truly nervous he made me feel. How every time I was around him, butterflies would form in my stomach and all I'd want to do is smile.

He watched my face for a few minutes, but I made sure to school my features. I was good at showing no emotion. Even if the only thing I wanted to do, was to press the hand he was still holding my arm with, against my face.

Breaking the silence, I said, "It's getting cold." I chose to ignore that his hand was more than enough warmth for me.

He tensed, "Yah sorry." Then, still holding my arm, he pulled us towards the door.

We didn't get far before the door opened and Ana came out with the girls following behind her. "There you are," she started to say, but stopped once she saw who was standing next to me.

"Oh," she smiled. "I thought you had left?"

"No," Paul said, stating the obvious, rather briskly.

Ana looked a little hurt, turning to me with questions in her eyes.

Seeing the hurt in her eyes, reminded me of where I was and who I was with. I shrugged my arm out of Paul's hold, and said, "Are you ready?"

"Yah," she said without enthusiasm.

"Great," I said, trying to convince the both of us. I gave both of the girls a hug and shouted a quick goodbye to Seth and Quil through the door. As I was walking down the steps, I looked back to say goodbye to Paul, but was stunned to see him right behind me.

I didn't know what to do. I couldn't shake his hand, that was too formal. Then again, I couldn't hug him, that was to informal. Ultimately the decision wasn't up to me, as Paul pulled me to him for a hug.

I was momentarily frozen. I was hugging Paul. Our bodies were close together. I was hugging _Paul_.

Not knowing what to do, I wrapped my arms around him to return the hug. It felt great. I now understood why my life had never been complete before, it was because I had gone all that time without a hug from Paul.

Taking advantage of our positions, I took a big whiff of him. Aw, he smelled perfect. I resisted the urge to rub my face against his shoulder or my nose against his jaw. Instead I let go and stepped back, effectively breaking off the hug.

We both just started at each other. I was hoping that he didn't feel too awkward hugging me, because well…I felt great.

My happiness was only fleeting though, because Ana came towards him for a hug. If I hadn't known better, it looked like he was uncomfortable. I tried not to watch them, but my eyes would wonder back and I would see Paul staring at me over Ana's shoulder.

Ana turned around, all smiles. "Kay, I'm ready when you are."

I plastered on another fake smile and got into the car. As I was pulling out of the driveway, I looked in my rearview mirror. I didn't know whether I was relieved or disappointed that Paul was nowhere to be seen.

He must have gone inside, but then why were Seth and Quil outside?

And what where they picking up from off of the ground?


	7. Chapter 7

A special 'thank you' to all my readers, that review. I really appreciate people telling me what they think about my story and whether it's good or not. Although I write to amuse myself, I love to know if other people share my same sense of humor. As always, I hope you enjoy this chapter.

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**Chapter 7:**

It had been a very long night, I thought. I barely slept a wink. Listening to wolves, in theory, was great. I'd even go as far as to say I love the sound of wolves on New Moon's CDs, but I discovered something pivotal last night…too much of a good thing is a bad thing.

All I heard last night was wolves. Or rather, all I heard last night was one wolf that wouldn't stop howling. It drove me to the brink of insanity. Don't get me wrong, the howls were beautiful, poetic really, but not at four in the morning when I'm trying to get my beauty rest.

Ugh, I moaned, rolling my shoulders back and forth. All I wanted to do was go back to bed and sleep until noon. No, instead I'm outside in the freezing cold, stretching in preparation for my run.

Why did I have to be born one of those rare creatures that can't sleep past noon, even if I haven't slept at all the night before?

It wasn't fair.

Oh well, I thought, getting ready to start my run. Nothing in life is fair.

Ignoring my cynical thoughts, I started running down the main street. Without realizing it, until I approached a familiar curve, I noticed that I was heading in the direction of the reservation.

Great, maybe I'll run into Kim or Claire.

Or maybe Paul?

Oh boy, here I go again. Wasn't it bad enough that he was on my mind all night; couldn't my imagination just give me a break?

I tried refocusing by thinking of the last book I read. I got half way through the thought before I realized I was thinking of how similar Paul was to the hero in the story.

I should just give up. Say 'to hell with it' and kiss him passionately the next time I see him.

Yah right! He'd probably shove me away and this time he really would get that restraining order. That's not even mentioning how Ana would react. She'd probably disown me.

How did my life become such a soap opera? I started laughing, it stopped me from crying.

"Whatcha laughing about?" came a voice to my right.

I screamed, jumping towards the middle of the road.

"What the hell! Why do you guys keep doing _THAT_?" I shrieked once I realized it was Paul and not some demented killer out to stab me.

He had the nerve to laugh. I glared, "It isn't funny! I could die prematurely because of shock!'

He laughed harder.

"Stop!" I yelled striding towards him.

He ignored me, choosing to sit on the pavement and hold his stomach instead.

I was so angry, I wanted to kick him. So I did.

The pain that shot through my leg was intense. "Ow!" I howled, bracing my foot, jumping up and down. "What are you, made of steel?"

Still laughing, Paul got up. "You poor baby, let me see."

"No," I said childishly, putting pressure on my foot because it hurt like a mother. "Ow," I sniffed a little.

"Let me see," he ordered.

I ignored him.

"Talliah," he said my name a little too sharply. "Let me see your foot."

I would have stuck to my guns, but it was at that moment that I noticed Paul didn't have a shirt on. I immediately sat down.

"Damn it," Paul said, as he walked towards me. "Let me see your foot."

This time I just sat there dumbly, letting him do whatever he wanted. I couldn't speak, all I could do was stare. He was magnificent. He was like a bronze statue, I wanted to poke him to see if he was real. I fought the urge.

Barely.

There was sweat on his chest. I groaned.

"What?" asked a worried Paul. "Did that hurt when I touched you there?"

I closed my eyes, focusing on leveling my breathing. The last thing I needed was for him to hear me panting.

I felt trembling by my foot. Was that me? I opened my eyes and saw Paul looking down at my foot that he was holding, he was shaking.

Was he _still_ laughing at me? I glared, but the wind was taken out of my sails when I noticed the concerned wrinkles on his forehead.

"Hey," I said, placing my hand on his. "Are you okay?"

"You're asking if _I'm_ okay?" he said, shaking harder.

"Yah," I said, taking of my jacket.

"What are you doing?" he looked at me with confusion.

"You have to get warm," I stated the obvious. "You're shaking."

His hand stilled on my foot. "I'm fine, keep your jacket on."

"No you're not," I said, trying to reach his shoulders with my jacket.

"Talliah, put you're jacket back on." he said, shivering again.

I ignored him.

He touched my face with the back of his hand. "See, I'm warm. Now put your jacket on before you catch hypothermia."

I barely understood a word he was saying. I was distracted by the fact that he had never before touched my face until now. His hand was very warm and I more than liked it on my face. I wanted him to put his hand on my face more often.

What was I saying? Over half the female population wanted that very same thing, what made me so special?

Evidently nothing because he just ignored me and went on looking at my foot.

"Do you think you can walk on it?"

What? Oh yah, my foot. I turned it, it hurt a little, but nothing I couldn't live with. "It's okay," I shrugged. "I'll survive."

He stood up and before I knew it, he was hauling me up alongside him. He had me positioned, so that I was leaning most of my weight on him. This wouldn't have been a problem but both of our bodies were lined up against one another.

If one could faint from their imagination alone, I would have been down for the count.

"Talliah," Paul barked beside me. "Pay attention."

"Wh…what," I stuttered, just now remembering that this sexy body also had a sexy voice.

He grinned at me. "What were you thinking?"

I blushed.

He laughed and totally shocked me by grabbing a strand of my hair. "I love it when I catch you thinking about me."

"Wh..what," I stuttered again, I was starting to wonder if it was becoming a habit.

"You heard me," he whispered, near my face.

Before I could reply, he said, "I think I'm going to take you to Sam and Emily's. They're some friends that live close by."

Trying to pretend that the previous conversation didn't happen, I asked, "Wait, are you talking about Sam, as in your manager Sam?"

He grinned, "The one and only."

Looking down at my workout clothes, I suddenly understood how Ana felt the day she was going to meet the band members. "I can't meet him dressed up like this and all sweaty."

He made a weird face and started sniffing the air around me, "Yah, you are kind of stinky."

I glared, but instead of hitting or kicking him, I used his own sarcasm against him. "Thank you for understanding, I'll just have to meet them some other time," I smiled sweetly.

His eyes narrowed.

I kept smiling.

"You're going," he said, as if he was my boss.

"HA," I fake laughed in his face. "I don't think so."

He rolled his eyes. "Come on," he said, moving us in the direction, that I assumed, was Sam and Emily's house.

"Didn't you hear what I said?" I asked, putting all my effort into dragging my feet. It didn't help though, Paul must have been made a machine, because my efforts didn't faze him.

"Yah," he said pulling me. "But you'll enjoy yourself once you get there."

My temper sparked and I opened my mouth to argue, but he beat me to it. "Stop dragging your feet, it's useless."

Who did he think he was? He can't just drag me where ever he pleased. I wasn't some…some…some whatever the hell thing that gets dragged behind people is called!

"Ah, excuse me?" I said very, very calmly. "There's this thing called FREE WILL!" I shouted.

He stopped, turning around to get a better look at me. "Please?" He said with the deepest puppy dog eyes. "I really want you to meet them. They're like…my older siblings."

I was goo.

Putty in the damn man's hands. I nodded, to afraid that if I moved or said anything, I would rip his clothes of right here and now.

He smiled and moved his hand that was holding my arm, so that it was now holding my hand.

I stopped breathing when he squeezed it.

Was it possible to die from happiness? Or at least pass out? I definantly think I was one small step away from fainting.

I Talliah, little Miss No One, was walking down a deserted road holding Paul's hand. His HAND!

I wonder what he'd do if I squeezed his hand back. I blushed, just thinking about it. I better not; he really would think I was obsessed. Not that I wasn't, but I was really trying to keep that embarrassing little fact to myself.

Oh my gosh! What if I tripped and accidently squeezed his hand, but he didn't know I tripped? So then he would think that I actually was flirting with him by squeezing his hand! My mind went spastic, just thinking about that possibility.

My over active imagination finally helped though, because instead of thinking about Paul and his near naked, sexy, scrumptious, delicious body during our trek to Sam's house; I focused on watching every obstacle in my path and trying to master the art of complete stillness in my hand. That way, I wouldn't accidently squeeze his hand and have Paul think I'm an uncontrollable flirt.

How I made it there, I'll never know. All I did know, is that it was the longest friggin walk of my life.

"You'll love Emily," Paul said, squeezing my hand again.

I whimpered.

Paul's head whipped around. "What's wrong?"

I stilled, "Nothing."

His eyes narrowed and he started trembling. "Are you lying? Has your foot been hurting this entire time?" His voice was getting louder with every word.

My eyes narrowed as well. "Don't use that tone of voice with me," I said, and flicked his chest to get my point across.

He stared down at where I had touched him.

"Did you just…flick me?"

I blushed a little. "Well kicking doesn't help."

He threw his head back and roared with laughter.

I tried glaring but the effort was lost when he'd stop laughing, then look at my face and start roaring all over again.

"It wasn't that funny." I murmured, more to myself than to him.

It was then that the door swung open and four people were on the other side staring, in wonder, at Paul. I recognized Kim immediately and gave her a fast smile. The other woman must have been Emily and the men I recognized as Sam and Jared from the band New Moon.

"Is that really Paul?" Jared said from the doorway.

"Jared," both Kim and the other woman warned.

"Hi," greeted the other woman, with a smile. "I'm Emily, you must be Talli. I've heard so much about you."

I smiled nervously, "Yes, I'm Talli." Then I looked over at Paul, who was just chuckling now, "And when Paul isn't constantly bruising my ego, by laughing at me, he tells me about you to."

She smiled.

"I'd love to know what was so funny," commented Kim, still looking at Paul in amazement.

I rolled my eyes. "Paul laughs to much, he needs to be more serious."

Four heads whipped around and stared at me as if I was from Mars.

"Is she serious?" Jared asked.

"I'm afraid so," replied Kim.

"Leave her alone." Paul said, putting his hand on my lower back.

The warmth from his hand immediately started to spread throughout my body.

"Move, so we can get in," he said to them, using his hand to push me towards the door.

When we got into the house, the smell of something frying assaulted me. "Mhmm, whatever you're cooking smells delicious."

My belly rumbled in agreement.

Emily laughed, "It sounds that way."

I started to smile at her, but was caught off guard when I saw the other side of her face.

I inhaled sharply. Emily was the same woman from the gas station.

The one, where I had met Kim, on the day of the kissing booth. She was the woman I had compared to the 'Mona Lisa.'

"Emily?" I asked. It felt like the entire room tensed when I said her name.

"Hmm," she smiled, but it wasn't very convincing, she looked apprehensive.

"Do you need any help with the food?"

"I'd love some," she smiled.

"Great," I said, following her into the kitchen, as I unzipped my jacket.


	8. Chapter 8

Tons of kudos to all my readers that review. I love knowing you like my characters as much, if not more, than I do. Have fun with this next chapter.

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**Chapter 8:**

I wanted to ask Emily so many times about her face, but in the end I decided against it. One day, if I ever became close friends with her, I would. Until then, I was happy just making breakfast with her.

Oh boy, and was it ever an experience, to say the least. I thought she had been playing around when she told me to empty the fridge.

She wasn't.

Now I could see why, as I watched three hungry men shove food into their mouths at practically 50 scoops per second.

No wonder they choked so much.

Seth, who snuck in at some point, was currently cramming what looked to be multiple biscuits and a handful of bacon strips into his mouth. It was disgusting.

I couldn't stop watching.

"It's so outrageous, you can't look away, can you?" said Emily from her seat next to me.

"No, I can't," I replied. It was almost hypnotizing.

Was that really his tenth egg? The buzzing of my phone broke my concentration.

"Hello," I said, not bothering to check the Caller ID.

"Talli?" said a familiar man's voice. Paul, who was sitting next to me, started shaking.

"Yah?" I said, grabbing my jacket from off of the back of my chair and shoving it at Paul. Moving my mouth away from the phone, I said, "Cover up with the damn jacket or stop shivering."

"Where did you put the Henderson case?"

I thought about it for a minute. It couldn't be filed if Todd was calling, that meant I left it somewhere around the office. I was imagining the layout of my office, when I heard Sam telling Paul to calm down.

I looked up, to see Paul staring at my phone.

Oh frig, he must have thought I was being so rude, talking on the phone at the breakfast table.

"Sorry," I said, getting up from the table and walking into the living room. "It has to be in the outgoing mail. They switched doctors remember?"

I heard papers being shuffled around. "I don't see it," Todd said in a panicky voice.

I rolled my eyes, "Calm down Todd, it's there, look again."

A few more minutes and a sigh of relief later, he said, "I found it."

I smiled, Todd was such a worrywart.

"What would I do without you?" he sighed.

I laughed. "Pop some antacids and cry in your sleep."

"More than that," he said gruffly. I was imagining him wiping his forehead with his ever present, handy dandy handkerchief.

"You'd get by," and for some reason I had the feeling that he would have to, sooner rather than later. I couldn't explain it, but as I looked up and saw Paul staring at me from the table, I just knew things were going to be changing.

Oh no, not the obsessive fan coming out again. I was doing so well over breakfast.

"Todd," I said into the phone. "I'll talk to you when I get back. Until then, try not to have too many panic attacks."

"Okay," he said. "Sorry for interrupting your vacation time."

"No problem," I said, before hanging up the phone.

Paul was still looking at me from the table, as was every other person. Even Seth stopped eating for two seconds to be nosey.

"I'm sorry, that was rude."

"It's okay," Emily said at the same time that Paul asked, "Who was it?"

"My boss," I said walking back to the table. "He has a horrible memory, paired with horrible organizational skills, and don't forget the side of worrywarts."

"How old is he?"

"Um," I looked at the ceiling. "I'd say, in his mid-fifties. I'm horrible at remembering birthdays and ages."

Paul opened his mouth to say something but Kim asked first, "Where is it that you work?"

"Oh," I exclaimed, "I can't believe I've never told you. I work in a private practice doctor's office."

They all stared at me.

Seth was the first to speak. "You're a doctor?"

I paused and thought about messing with their heads by claiming to be a child prodigy, but I decided against it.

"Aren't you a little young?" Jared asked.

Paul glared at Jared, "She's old enough to put her mind to being anything she wants to be."

I smiled, preparing to drop the bomb, but then Paul patted my leg.

My eyes shot to his, but he was still glaring at Jared.

His hand was still on my thigh.

His hand.

On my thigh.

It took all my energy not to look down at my lap and stare. I tried to focus, instead, on Kim who was sitting across from me.

Before I had a chance to school my expression, she saw the shock on my face. At first she looked confused and slightly worried, but then she noticed Paul and followed his arm. The next thing I knew, she was grinning from ear to ear.

My humiliation spread as a blush on my cheeks.

Kill me now.

"What kind of doctor are you?" Sam asked, interrupting my silent prayer of death.

"Uh," it took me a minute to regain my intelligence. "I'm not."

Jared and Paul stopped bickering.

"But you said you were," Jared said.

"No I didn't," I replied. "I said I worked at a doctor's office, you guys all assumed I was a doctor."

"Oooh, the intrigue," stated Kim.

"Not really," I made an apologetic face. "I'm a medical biller."

There was silence. I started laughing.

"You guys should see your faces," I said, in between breaths.

"I prefer looking at yours," Paul said, almost in a whisper.

I stopped laughing.

Did I hear correctly?

I glanced around the table, and by the way everybody else was looking anywhere but at us, I figured that I had.

I was really starting to wonder if Paul _wanted_ me to be obsessed with him. Otherwise, why would he say such things?

Was he flirting with me?

I laughed in my head. Yah freakin right! Wow, I really was hopeless. Isn't this some kind of obsessive trait? You know, thinking that the person you're obsessed with actually returns the feelings.

I shook my head a little at the irony of me working in a doctor's office.

I chanced a glance at Paul, he was looking down at me.

Okay, not going to talk to him.

I looked to everyone else, but they were all pretending fascination with their food. Although, I do think Seth was serious.

Spotting Sam breaking eye contact with his food, I rushed. "So Sam?"

He looked like a deer caught in the headlights.

"Uh, um, yes?" he said gruffly.

I smiled, to reassure him that there would be no ritual sacrifices made by me, using his carcass. "How do you get the recording of wolves in the background of New Moon's CDs?"

If it was possible, his eyes grew bigger.

Hmm?

"Why do you ask?" Emily replied for him.

I did a half scowl, half smile thing with my face. "The wolves around here keep me up all night. I wanted to know if my sleep deprivation was going towards a good cause."

"Yah, I know what you mean," commented Kim. "There's this one wolf that keeps me up all night to."

Jared's fork fell to his plate.

I ignored him, asking instead, "So do you just record them at night? I mean, I know you can't get them in a group and have them howl on the spot for you." I smiled at the image this provoked. I could just see people trying to tell wolves when to howl on point.

"Yah," Sam said. "Something like that."

I raise my eyebrow.

"Uh," he started fidgeting. "There's this… wolf… trainer."

By now, everyone had stopped eating.

I asked, "You mean like a horse whisperer?"

"A wolf trainer?" laughed Seth. "Really?"

"Yes," Jared commented, "do tell."

I wanted to say 'sshh' to get them to be quiet.

"Ah yah," said Sam. "The wolves kind of listen to this guy." He darted his eyes over to Emily.

She was grinning, I wonder if she knew the guy? I was in the middle of asking, when my phone started vibrating in my pocket again.

I ignored it.

"You're phone is ringing," said Seth, from across the table.

I blushed. "You seriously have great hearing."

He grinned.

"Sorry," I said to everyone in general, as I was getting up from the table.

I looked to see who it was.

Ana.

"Hey?" I said into the phone.

"You've been gone since I woke up two hours ago and all you can say is HEY!" she freaked into the phone.

I winced, "Uh, sorry?"

"Damn right you're sorry."

I grinned, "I love you."

She huffed. "Where are you?"

I braced myself. "I'm at Sam and Emily's, they're friends of Kim and Paul."

"Oh, that's nice," she said.

I waited.

"WHAT!" she exploded.

I moved the phone away from my ear.

"Do you mean Sam, as in NEW MOON'S MANAGER!" she hollered.

I sighed and chose to use Paul's phrase from earlier, "The one and only."

"I can't believe this. I just _cannot_ believe…THIS!"

I kept silent.

"I take it, Paul and Kim are there?" she asked.

"Yah," I replied, knowing that what I was about to say would distract her from yelling. "I was in the middle of jogging when Paul spotted me."

"Really?" she asked, effectively being sidetracked. "What's he wearing?"

There was no way in hell I was going to tell her that when he spotted me jogging he was shirtless. No matter how great of friends we are, she'd murder me in my sleep if I told her that. So I chose to focus on the fact that he had, since then, borrowed one of Sam's t-shirts.

I personally envied that shirt.

"Well," I started to say, but just then noticed the entire table was staring at me. Paul, included, was grinning.

"Toaster strudel," I said.

"Damn," she said, recognizing our code word for 'can't talk, people are around'.

"Do you think it would be too obvious if I drove to wherever you are?"

I snickered, thinking that is was already obvious to everyone.

I stopped in my tracks.

Oh my gosh…is that what they thought about me?

Was I that obvious to?

"Yah, you're right." She said, deciphering my silence as a nice way of saying yes.

I felt guilty.

"Don't worry," I whispered. "I need an excuse to get a ride back."

I couldn't believe I had just offered Ana a chance to meet up with Paul again. I clearly didn't think this choice through.

"Have I told you lately that I love you?" she beamed into the phone.

"Just the once," I replied, wanting to be happy for her, but fighting the urge to whip the phone at the wall.

Ignoring my mental break down, I gave her directions to jot down. I suddenly found myself hoping that the longest walk of my life wasn't just a part of my imagination, and that it would actually take Ana a while to get here.

Saying our goodbyes, I flipped my phone shut.

I gave a tentative smile to everyone at the table. "Sorry again. Ana's coming to pick me up."

"She doesn't have to," Paul stood up. "I could have given you a ride."

My mouth started salivating at the mere thought.

"Paul, don't be rude," Emily chastised. "Ana probably wants to meet us."

Paul sat down and nodded his head tensely.

"So," I said, looking around at the people at the table. "Is there any way I could meet this wolf trainer?"


	9. Chapter 9

I personally really liked the last chapter, but wow, I hardly received any reviews. I hope you guys like this next one.

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**Chapter 9:**

To my extreme disappointment, it didn't take long for Ana to get to Sam and Emily's. I severely underestimated how much faster it is to get here by vehicle, than by foot.

Ana, of course, was as giddy as a school girl. She was practically undressing Paul with her eyes, the moment she walked through the door.

I tried to ignore it.

But it bothered me greatly.

Very greatly.

Currently she was sitting on the couch talking to Jared about how much she loved his artistic talent. He was being very polite to her, but I could tell he was uncomfortable. I smiled every time he glanced at Kim, giving her a face that even I could read as begging 'save me.'

Of course Ana was oblivious; she didn't even really want to be talking to Jared. I could see her looking out of the corner of her eye every few minutes at Paul.

Paul.

He was leaning against the counter talking to Emily and me, as we finished up the rest of the dishes. I tried focusing my attention on washing the pans, but it was really hard with him asking me questions.

The questions were endless, but I let him ask away anyways. It was only fair since I asked him a million in the past two days.

Had it really only been two days? It didn't seem like it was that short of time. It felt more like forever.

I went to swipe a piece of hair out of my face, but remembered that my hands were soapy. Instead I tried blowing it away, which did absolutely nothing. I don't even know if at this point it was bothering me because it was tickling or if it was just bothering me because it was there. Either way, I was in the process of struggling with my shoulder to move it when Paul's hand touched my face.

I stopped, my eyes colliding with his as he brushed the piece of hair behind my ear.

"Is that better," he asked huskily.

"Yes," I said hoarsely, wanting to grab his face for a whole different reason than what he was holding mine for.

The idea of me kissing him was…

I couldn't let myself go there. I sighed, some dreams just don't come true.

"We have to go," Ana said, interrupting my staring fest with Paul.

"Wh..what?" I looked at her, when did she get so close?

"Yah," she seemed a little angry. "You should start packing for tomorrow, that way you're not stuck doing it all tonight."

She was right. Emily had already invited the both of us over for dinner, and if yesterday's dinner was any kind of prelude for tonight, we wouldn't get back until really late. Therefore, I should get a start on it now.

"Wait," Paul said, no longer slouching on the counter. "What do you mean start packing? You're ticket is for a week."

I didn't miss his quick glance at Sam, or Sam moving over to us. "What's the problem?"

Paul looked at Sam. "Talliah is leaving tomorrow. I thought you booked the tickets for a week. Fix it."

I narrowed my eyes at Paul, "You don't have to be rude you know."

He shrugged, still glaring at Sam.

"Talli," Ana chastised.

"Ana," I said right back, to annoyed to let her peevish temperament bother me. I could tell she was shocked that I snapped back at her, but come on, if someone was rude, I didn't care if they were famous.

"I could have sworn – "

I cut Sam off and gave Paul a fierce look, "Don't worry, you did your job correctly. I received a ticket for a week's stay."

Paul growled, "Why didn't you just say that then?"

I growled right back. "It's none of your business. Besides I can't take a week off work, Todd would be in a coma by the time I returned."

He started shaking. "You returned your ticket because of work!"

"Yes!" I said just as loudly. By now, everyone in the room had stopped what they were doing and were watching Paul and me argue.

"Paul," Sam said his name in warning, as if chastising a child.

Paul was starting to really shake. Ana and Emily were stepping back, but I stood my ground.

"Oh stop it," I said, taking a few more steps towards Paul. Sam blocked me with his arm, before I could stop my reaction; I flicked him in the chest.

Sam just stared at me as if I had gone insane.

I took this stunned opportunity to go under his arm and stand right in front of a shaking Paul.

"Did you hear me," I said. "Stop it!" I flicked him on the side of his neck.

He looked at me, still shaking.

"Stop it," I flicked him again. "I'm on to you buster."

"You just start shaking," Flick "to get your way." Flick "Well that's not going to," Flick "work with me anymore." Flick

His eyes got bigger and he stopped shaking.

"Did that just happen?" asked Jared from behind Paul's shoulder.

"Damn right," I said, glaring at Paul. "You can't get your way every time Paul. You need to suck it up and be a man."

I scoped the room, looking for Ana. "Let's go," I said, not bothering to wait for her answer.

Turning to Emily, I said, "Thank you so much for breakfast, you'll understand if we leave now, won't you?"

She looked to be stunned, a grinning Kim nudged her. "Yah," she said, clearing her throat, "Yup".

I plastered a genuine smile on my face, "Thanks."

Turning towards the door, Paul was blocking my path, my smile was replaced with a glower.

He winced.

I walked around him. At the door I stopped and spun around, Paul looked a little relieved.

To bad for you, I thought, ignoring him to look at Jared and Sam. "It was nice meeting the both of you."

Jared stood there in shock, Sam at least nodded.

When I got out to the car, I was practically hyperventilating. Any minute now, I was expecting my phone to ring with Emily on the other line canceling our dinner plans.

I couldn't believe I acted that way. I was so…

I just can't _believe_ I acted that way.

I felt like hitting my head against the back of the seat. I was so stupid.

Ana slammed her door.

My knuckles turned white on the steering wheel.

If she said one word. ONE word, I would flip.

"_HUMP_," she glowered.

Technically that wasn't a word, it was a sound.

The car ride back to the motel was long, silent and very tense.

Damn drive! I started swearing in my head. It takes five fricken minutes for Ana to get to Sam and Emily's but it takes me two hours to get back!

By the time we got to the motel, my temper had cooled.

I had now moved on to the blushing stage.

I was such an idiot.

I was so stupid.

Did I seriously just flick him to death?

I groaned. Why, oh why Talli? Why were you born this way?

Ana unbuckled her seatbelt and slammed the door on her way out of the car. I winced.

I may have calmed down, but knowing Little Miss Sunshine, she had a ways to go.

I sat in the car for another five minutes, not because I needed time to simmer down, but rather out of fear. Ana was going to rip me a new one.

I gulped just thinking about it.

Ugh, I can't wait to get back home.

Gathering up enough courage, I walked into the motel.

Of course the first thing I saw was Mrs. Dits with a big Cheshire cat grin on her face. "Is something troubling your friend?"

Wouldn't you like to know you little weasel, I thought.

Instead, I replied, "It's her time of the month." Fake smiling, I added, "You know, period cramps."

I left a speechless Mrs. Dits standing in the hallway as I walked to our room. Who knew a fowl old lady would be the first one to make me smile after such an epic disaster.

And epic it was.

Of major proportions.

I would officially go down in the history books as the worst female obsessed fan ever. People would pity me in years to come. They'd point and stare saying, 'Isn't that the girl that flicked Paul and all his friends when she _liked_ them?'

I half laughed half cried, they would probably be curious to know what I'd do if I didn't like someone.

Ask Mrs. Dits, I thought.

Reaching our door, I sucked in a deep breath. Ready cowboy?

Cowboy? Where did that come from? If anything I would be more of a cowgirl –

Ana whipped the door open, breaking off my train of thought. "Get in here," she glowered, grabbing my arm and pulling me in.

And so it begins.

Slamming the door shut, she crossed her arms in front of her and glared.

What happened to the love?

"I can't believe you just did that."

You and me both.

I shrugged.

"Don't you dare shrug," she ordered.

I was about to shrug again, but caught myself.

"What were you thinking?" she asked, starting to walk back and forth in front of the beds.

"Did some evil spirit take over my best friend's body or what?" she rattled on. "Are you even aware of what you just did?"

"Yah," I spoke up. "I put a famous person in his place, so sue me."

If looks could kill, I'd be deceased.

I didn't know why I wasn't freaking out, especially since that was all I'd been thinking about since I left the house.

It's just, I know it was horrible to say…but whenever Ana freaks out, I generally don't. It has something to do with the fact, that Ana always flips over the little things that mean nothing to me, so maybe in a way my mentally obsessed brain was no longer worried.

Basically, if Ana worried about something, it really wasn't that big of a deal.

Wow, I totally lost best friend points over that one.

"Yoohoo," Ana said, snapping her fingers.

"Hmm?"

"Aren't you listening?" shrieked Ana.

"Yah Ana, I am," I said, getting a little frustrated.

"Then what have you got to say?"

"About what?" I asked. "My behavior?"

She gave me a look that said I was an idiot.

"Nothing, I have absolutely nothing to say."

"What do you mean 'you have nothing to say'?"

"Exactly what I said Ana," I huffed. "Paul shouldn't have been rude. Yah maybe I went a little over bored, but did a flick really hurt him? No, but it sure helped to get my point across."

"You're actually defending yourself?" shrilled Ana.

"What's there to defend?" I shrugged, no longer caring if it made her angry, because damn it, she was making me angry.

"Are you serious?" she asked.

I rolled my eyes at her dramatics. "Ana, I love you but nothing you'll say will make me think I made a bad decision."

Personally, I thought I ruined my life. She didn't need to know that.

Now, not only would Paul no longer be a hypothetical possibility in my life. He would forever remain the 'could have been', not that he really could have been because he wasn't even aware of our hypothetical relationship.

Oh man, was I messed up.

"This is _Paul_ we're talking about. You –"

"Yes _this is_ Paul we're talking about. _Paul_, who doesn't know us. _Paul_ who will not see us past this week. _Paul_ who is a famous singer that deals with millions of fans that love him daily. _Paul_ who won't remember our names once we leave. YES, we're talking about _Paul_."

She just stared at me.

I didn't blame her. I felt all my sadness pour out. He wouldn't remember my name. He doesn't care that my heart is breaking just thinking about leaving him tomorrow. He didn't care when I flicked him. He'll just go on seeing other fans, flirting with other girls.

I sat down on my bed. "You just don't understand Ana—"

"I don't understand! I don't understand!" Ana practically yelled. "Please, enlighten me then, of whatever it is, I don't understand."

"Ugh," I groaned in frustration. "I'm sorry if you were somehow offended by what happened today, but you have to understand that I'm not like you. Just because I like someone, that doesn't mean I'm going to let them walk all over me. I just. I just _can't_."

There was silence.

She sat down on one of the beds. "What do you mean you 'like someone'? Who do you like?"

Did I just say that?

"What?" I asked, trying to distract her, but knowing it was pointless.

"You said you liked someone," she said slowly. "Who do you like?"

"When did I say that?" I pretended to be dense.

"Do you like Paul?" she looked hopeful, as if I was just making this all up.

I wanted to make like a dog and play dead.

"You like Paul?" she asked in a perplexed statement.

"I," but then I stopped talking. I had no idea of what to say.

I huffed, throwing myself on the bed. "It's not what you think."

Silence.

"I'm just being a crazy obsessed fan. Worse than you really."

She still didn't say anything.

"Trust me, nothing will come of it." I stated. "I'm leaving tomorrow remember?"

"How long have you liked him?" She asked, staring off, into space.

I groaned, why did she have to ask the number one question that would make me look stupid. "Since the kissing booth."

"What?" she whipped her head around, to look at me. "But you didn't even kiss him."

Ah yah, I'm VERY aware of that bad judgment call.

I nodded, "I know."

"Wow," she started to giggle, "Talli _loves_ Paul."

Although I was very happy that she was starting to show signs of life again, I was not particularly happy in her way of showing it.

"Don't start Ana," I groan, pulling a pillow over my head.

"Oh my gosh," she exclaimed. "I can't believe the great Talli is falling for a celebrity. This is sooooo epic!"

I narrowed my eyes under the pillow. Yup, she was back to her old self. Why did I even bother worrying, of course she would take this opportunity to embarrass the hell out of me.

"Can I tell people?"

I about had a conniption fit, jumping up off of the bed I said, "NO!"

Ana just giggled louder. "I love this."

"Good," I said. "So you're okay with this stupid infatuation I have?"

"Oh my gosh!" she said, jumping up from off of the bed. "You just said the word 'infatuated'." She fake sniffed, "My little girl is growing up."

Ugh, this was not happening.

Two hours later, and it was still happening. She hadn't shut up.

Not for own damn second.

"You know Talli," Ana kept right on talking. "It's okay to have a crush on someone. You have to –"

I thanked God, when my cell phone started vibing in my pocket.

"Sorry," I said, wagging my phone in front of her face. "Phone call."

I ran for the door for some peace and quiet.

"Hello?"

"Talliah?"

It was Paul.

My heart flipped.

Then it flopped.

Then it did a summersault.

"Ah, Paul?"

Was he actually talking to me? I thought for sure he'd write me up on his stalker list, that he gave to Sam for security prepossess.

"Yah," he said, clearing his throat. "Uh, I wanted to call and… apologize for my behavior earlier today."

What was I supposed to say? Thank you? I couldn't say, 'Oh it's okay, I forgive you, you sexy piece of meat.'

Somehow, I couldn't see that working out to well.

"Okay," I said, lamely.

There was silence on both ends. Mine was stunned, his was probably revulsion.

"You're still coming to dinner right?"

My eyebrows came together, was he serious?

"Well I wasn't –"

"You have to come," he ordered.

I gave the phone a crazy look, "Excuse me?"

His tone of voice changed, "I mean, will you?"

Now I gave the phone an adoring look. "I don't know. I still have a lot of packing and –"

"Please," he wheedled. "The girls would love it and I know you'd love the food. You have to. _Please_."

Aw, when he said it like that, how could I resist. "Fine."

Damn it, I couldn't believe I was encouraging my obsession.

"Great," he said a little to chirper. Was he planning something? Was this dinner going to be his way of getting back at me?

I was in the middle of freaking out, when I heard a commotion from over the phone.

"Let me see it," came Claire's muffled voice.

"No," said Paul. I could just imagine him holding the phone over her head.

"Yes, give it to me," I imagined her jumping up and down.

"No," Paul said again.

"Quil," Claire whined.

I heard a guttural noise.

"Damn it Quil," yelled Paul. What was going on?

"Hello?" Claire said into the phone. "Hellooooo?"

"Yah, yah, I'm right here," I said. "What's going on?"

"You mean between Paul and Quil?" She said rhetorically, "Nothing, just men being animals."

"Oh, okay?"

"Anyways," Claire went on. "I heard what happened and I just wanted to say that I officially think you're awesome. Honestly, why hadn't I ever thought of flicking them to get my point across? Anyways, I'll see you tonight. Bye."

I sat there stunned, staring at the wall.

I need to get a life that didn't revolve around my own masochistic tendencies of self embarrassment.


	10. Chapter 10

Extra merit badges to all those who reviewed my last chapter. It was much appreciated.

**Chapter 10:**

I couldn't believe Ana was taking the news about my feelings for Paul so well. I was expecting a national disaster or at least WWIII.

None of which happened.

Instead, to my great discomfort, she kept wanting to talk about him.

All the time.

Twenty-four seven.

Don't get me wrong, he's a hunk a hunk a burnin love, and there's nothing I'd like more than to think of him. It just somehow felt wrong, listening to Ana talk about my Paul. She didn't know him the way I did.

Ugh, I rolled my eyes. Now I'm having debates about who knows him better. I really needed to start popping some prescription medication for these delusions.

As we pulled into Sam and Emily's driveway, I gasped. There were over fifteen gorgeously hot males playing football without their shirts on.

I groaned, trying not to visualize Paul.

It didn't work.

"Can I take one home?" Ana said, sitting right next to me.

As long as I get Paul, I thought.

As soon as we stopped, Ana jumped out of the car. I sat inside and closed my eyes. I needed to prep myself, so I started taking deep breaths.

Yes, Paul is hot, but you are a grown woman.

Breath

He looks like every other male human being.

Breath

Yah friggin right!

Breath

Somebody tapped on my window.

I looked, wishing I hadn't.

There standing right on the other side of my window, was a shirtless Paul.

Why was he doing this to me?

"Hey," he shouted through the glass. "Open up."

I took one last breath and opened the door. "Hey," I mumbled looking at the trees behind him.

"I'm glad you came," he said.

I chanced a glance in his direction. It took all my effort not to groan, he had dirt on him.

As if I needed more complications in my life, the friggin man had to go get all sweaty and dirty.

I scowled, hiding my love sick expression. "You're dirty."

He pulled his eyebrows together and looked down. "Yah, sorry," he said, wiping the dirt, but it only helped to spread it more.

Shoot me. Please, just shoot me.

New topic, new topic, new topic, my mind chanted as I watched him rubbing his stomach still.

"You're playing football," I said, stating the obvious.

He grinned, "Yah, do you like it?"

Now I did.

"I like watching it," I mumbled looking at the damn trees again, "but I don't understand it at all."

"I can teach you," he said, still grinning.

Haha, yah right and be close to that body. I don't think so. No way was I that into self torture.

"I don't think I could learn it all in one day," I said.

He tensed, effectively causing me to stare at his stomach muscles that tightened.

I didn't want to, but I really thought I was about to drool.

"You could always –"

"Paul," someone playing football cut him off. "Come on man, you're making us lose."

He glared at whoever that guy was, effectively shutting him up.

"There's a lot of people here," I murmured, for lack of anything better to say.

He smiled, "Don't be nervous."

"Sorry," I half winced, half smiled, "You're telling me that, doesn't really make the nervousness disappear."

"Maybe I could flick the nerves away," he joked.

I about died on the spot.

He laughed, I saw a few people behind him stop playing ball to look in our direction.

I blushed harder. "Yah, about that…"

"Don't worry," he winked, "you can flick me anytime."

My mouth dropped open, he threw his head back and laughed again at me.

This time, everybody stopped playing football to stare at us. I officially wanted to blend in with the car and never be seen again.

I wanted to push him out of the way so I could move, but I knew that the moment I touched his body I would pounce. So instead, I just stood there waiting for him to stop chuckling at my own humiliation.

"Are you done yet?" I asked, trying to distract myself from looking at him. He was way too attractive for his own good.

"The expressions you make," he chuckled. "They're absolutely priceless."

"To bad," I said, trying to ignore the fact that people were still looking at me, "I was really counting on getting that beach house in California."

He stopped laughing, and a little ripple went across his entire body.

Woah! Whatever the hell that was, I hoped to never see it again. I wanted to moan out loud. Stupid, friggin ripples that are way too sexy on a man that has no need to be more sexy!

"Is that where you see yourself living?... In California." He asked. I could see the muscles in his arm tightening.

I wonder if he'd notice if I kissed his arm.

I'm so pathetic.

"Talliah?"

Oh frig, I totally lost myself in a way to steamy day dream. "Uh," I said, giving myself time to recoup, "Uh, no. I was just playing."

He was about to say something, when a group of guys came over and started pushing him out of the way.

"You must be the infamous Talli?" One said, "It's great to finally see you in person."

In person?

"In person?" I mimicked my thoughts aloud.

Another one said, "Yah, I'm officially in your dept."

"Wha – " I started to say, only to be cut off by another one.

"Yah," One chuckled, hitting Paul in the ribs, "You're a magic worker."

I winced, that poor guy was going to have a bruised elbow tonight.

"You guys," someone whistled. Whoever it was, I was seriously thinking about kissing them in thanks. Then I looked over and saw Paul, my mind was totally changed.

It was Kim, she came over shoving guys out of her way. "Seriously, I know you guys are nothing but a bunch of cuddly puppies," a few of the guys rolled their eyes. "But you have to realize, to her, you're nothing but an overzealous crowd of testosterone."

Exactly!

Man candy if you will.

When Kim finally reached me, I gave her my best 'I so owe you for saving me' look. She just smiled back.

She grabbed my arm, pulling me away. "I know you were nervous to meet the guys, but you already have them won over."

"How?" I asked.

Ignoring me, she went on, "It's the girls that you'll have to impress."

I looked back at Paul with wide eyes, suddenly wanting to run over and hide behind him. He gave me a worried look, then turned to glare at Kim.

Save me, I thought, as we headed through the open door.

The group of men outside compared nothing, to the group of women inside. Every woman was talking a mile a minute.

It struck me strange that there were no children.

"Talli!" Claire yelled, from across the room.

The silence that followed her statement had me seriously reconsidering my plan to hide behind Paul.

Ana somehow appeared from out of the thickness of the crowd. "Talli," she said, full of smiles, "these are the rest of the band members' wives."

Oh shizzle.

"Oh," I said dumbly. "Hello."

How many fricken band members were there?

Claire laughed, coming towards me. "Some of us aren't really the wives to the band members, but the crew as well."

"Oh," I said stupidly, once she answered the question that was in my head.

"Don't be nervous," Claire said, "They won't bite."

I chanced a glance in Kim's direction. "That's not what she said," I whispered.

Claire scowled, "Ignore her."

I tried.

It didn't work.

Geeze, why was the whole entire room silent? I had been to celebrations where I didn't know anyone before, but never once had the entire room shushed on my account.

Was this what they did to Ana when she walked in?

I went to stand next to Ana, only to see that she had disappeared. Looking around, I spotted her amongst some wives in the center of the room.

Trader!

"Uh," I mumbled, "I think I'm going to help Emily in the kitchen."

Claire grabbed my hand, "No need, we've already finished cooking."

"Oh." I said, a little deflated.

For the next hour, I went around the room with Claire talking to complete strangers. Only, after the first two or three conversations, I felt right at home. Everyone was extremely nice, with the exception of a moody Leah that sat in the corner. Something about her made me want to talk to her, but her continual glowering at me, suggested that I do otherwise.

It was hard to miss the men walking in, they were so loud and rambunctious. I looked at the furniture and personified it. It would suck to be you, I thought.

It didn't take but a minute to figure out which woman went with which man. As soon as the men walked through the doors, they went right over to their wives and kissed them. I caught myself blushing a time or two.

And envying more than that.

When Paul came in, I was curious as to who he'd go to. I looked around the room for any single ladies, but the way it was described to me, Ana and I were the only unattached singles.

I tried to act like I didn't care by walking into the kitchen for something to drink. I made it half way there when Paul caught my eye, a smile lit up his face and he started walking towards me.

What did that mean?

When he made it to me, he didn't say anything. "How was the game?" I asked.

If it was possible, his grin got bigger. "We won."

I smiled.

Why? I don't know, just because he smiled. I'm a freak like that, I guess.

Someone coughed; I looked away from Paul to see everyone else grinning at us.

I blushed.

"Are you hungry?" Paul asked.

"Yah," I said, pretending that the entire room wasn't listening to us.

"Great," Emily said, walking into the kitchen. "Let's eat then."

The women stood in line first to get their food. I didn't know whether to think it was cute and romantic or sexist. I decided on neither in the long run, after I saw the reason for all the women getting their food first.

The men were just pigs.

We all took our food outside, sort of like a picnic. It was beautiful out, accept for the cold. I had to run back to the car to grab my sweatshirt to put on under my jacket. It still didn't help too much, but it was okay.

The guys were still in line getting their food, when I sat down next to Ana and Kim. Claire followed behind me.

It was then that terror struck me.

No.

No, it couldn't be.

My back stiffened and my heart stopped.

Please no.

I looked at Paul, he was joking with… Embry was it?

When he saw me, he was in the middle of laughing. Something about my posture must have given me away because he tensed. Ignoring his food, he walked straight towards me.

It must have been my eyes. They were probably as big as saucers.

I was trying not to cry.

I continued to look at Paul as he made his way towards me. He was starting to move faster.

"Kim?" I said very hollowly.

She must have sensed something wasn't right with me because she asked, "What's wrong? Are you okay?"

"Talli –" Ana started to say.

I cut her off, still staring at Paul. He was getting closer.

"All of the band members are married, right?" I whispered.

Paul's step faltered a little.

"Yes?" Kim said it like a question.

"All but Paul," Claire clarified, breaking my heart in the process.

I closed my eyes, wishing it wasn't true.

"So Paul's the friend of yours that loss his girlfriend the day of the fundraiser." I stated, devoid of emotion.

No one answered.

"So he's on the rebound."

Still no answer.

I took a deep breath and opened my eyes.

Paul had stopped walking, but he continued to look deep into my eyes.

I turned my head, ignoring him, as my mind spun in chaos.


	11. Chapter 11

Much appreciation to those who review, as always. Also, I know I'm a horrible person for doing this, but pretty soon I won't be updating every day. Classes are starting to pick back up in their difficulty, and even though I'd rather be spending all my time writing this story, they have to be my main priority. Lucky you guys though, because you'll still get regular updates for the next few days. Again, sorry!

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**Chapter 11:**

Paul never made it over to me.

I didn't know where he went, all I knew, was that I never felt his presence by me after I turned my head.

To be honest, I didn't know if I wanted to be by him. I was just starting to get over my fan obsession, hopelessly thinking that he might have been flirting right back with me, and now I find out it's only because he's on the rebound.

UGH! I need to go home.

Ana was saying something, but I ignored her. She had a field day with the knowledge that Paul was on the rebound. She hadn't shut up since. I wanted to yell at her for having no compassion. Even as hurt as I was, I knew that it was horrible once a person had a split with someone.

The pain he must be feeling, I winced. Maybe we could cry together.

All I wanted was to hug him, tell him that it would get better. But I didn't.

Claire and Kim tried talking to me about it. Saying stuff like 'it wasn't a boyfriend/girlfriend thing' or 'he's not on the rebound'.

I knew they were lying though, because I heard the pain in his voice when he was looking for her. A man who feels that passionately about someone can't get over them in a month. People can't just forget that, like it's nothing.

I envied that girl.

She had Paul's love in the palm of her hand. I knew instinctively that Paul would do anything for the woman he loved. He really would cherish her.

And yet the cold hearted bitch left him. What's there to envy in that serious lack of judgment?

I can't believe I was angry at a girl for leaving Paul, when I wanted him so badly for myself. I guess that's what happens when you love someone so much; you want their own happiness to come before your own.

Kim and Claire had mumbled, a few minutes ago, that they had to go search for their husbands. I had nodded my head, mainly ignoring them. So, as I finally looked at my surroundings, I noticed no Jared or Quil in sight.

No Paul either.

I laid down on the grass, deciphering animal figures out of the clouds in the sky. It helped to preoccupy my mind for a little while, but not nearly as long as I'd like.

I closed my eyes, daydreaming of a world where I went with Kim and Claire to look for their husbands, because I was looking for mine as well. I'd walk around the corner of the house and see Paul laughing. He'd spot me and grin. I'd walk over and…

I scoffed at myself.

Was I really such a glutton for punishment? Was I really incapable of stopping myself, even though I knew I was just causing more hurt?

I was so caught up in arguing with myself, that I almost missed Ana's shrill, "Hey Paul."

I momentarily tensed, before realizing he had no idea of what was going on in my mind. He didn't even know about me asking Kim and Claire about the break-up.

I opened my eyes to see Paul leaning over me. He was still shirtless. I could see the hair from his navel spiraling downward, lost behind his pants.

I vetoed myself, when I wanted to look further. Instead, I looked up at his face, it looked haggard. He must be really hurting over his ex-girlfriend.

I wanted to punch whoever she was, for doing this to him.

Heartless monster.

"I saw you playing football," Ana rushed. "Did you play in high school?"

He glanced quickly at her saying, "No."

"To bad," she sighed a little. "You would have made a great… football player."

I smiled, knowing that she was probably trying to remember the name for the quarterback. She really didn't know much about sports, other than the fact that she thought it was the epitome of masculinity and that her husband better play them.

"A penny for your thoughts?" he said, looking down at me.

I held out my hand, he looked confused. "I'm waiting for your penny."

He smiled, putting his hands in his pockets and shaking them, "Sorry, I left my change at home."

I shrugged and closed my eyes. Effectively shutting off my visual of the sexiest, half nude man alive.

There was silence for a few minutes, even from Ana's direction. I thought that maybe Paul had left, but then I felt some movement on the ground next to me. When I opened my eyes, I didn't believe what I saw.

There, lying next to me, was Paul. He was on his back with his eyes closed, his sexy arms behind his head. All I had to do was roll over and I'd be touching him.

I closed my eyes and stayed still. I didn't move a muscle.

I was waiting for him or Ana to say something, but neither of them did. I mentally cursed Ana. The one time I actually wanted her to talk her head off, she decides to shut up. I opened my eyes to signal for Ana to yap away, but she wasn't sitting where I last saw her. I moved my head, looking around. Where was she?

I did the unthinkable.

I nudged Paul. "Where's Ana?"

He shrugged.

I stared at him, not knowing whether I should lie back down or go find Ana.

Ultimately, I let my obsessive fan gene take over. I wasn't going to get much more than this, so I might as well just soak it up, while I have the chance. Ana was a big girl, she could make her own decisions.

I laid back down, making sure to breathe.

The ground was cold but I managed to focus on other things. Those other things revolving around Paul, of course. I could hear him breathing and I could feel the heat radiating off of him. I wanted to snuggle up to him, strictly because I was cold.

HA, yah right! I could think of a few more reasons why I'd want to snuggle up with him.

"You keep fidgeting," he whispered.

I jumped, scared half out of my mind. "You could have warned me before you started talking," I fierce whispered.

He chuckled, "How, if I can't talk?"

I glared with my eyes closed. "I don't know, thump the ground or something."

He laughed again.

I could feel the ground around me vibrating, and it made me long for that day that Paul would hold me in his arms laughing.

Snap out of it Talli, I yelled at myself.

"Paul," I said, "can I ask you something?"

The ground stopped shaking and he replied, "Anything."

I started to ask, but lost my courage half way through the formation of the question in my head. "Never mind," I said.

I felt him shuffling around next to me. "No ask," he replied, "I want to know."

"No, no," I stated. "I changed my mind. Never mind."

"Talliah, seriously I don't care what you want to ask. You can ask me anything, anytime."

Yah right, I thought. "It's a good thing I'm not a reporter or I'd take you up on that offer."

There was silence. I thought he had dropped the subject, but then he said, "So…what did you want to ask?"

I rolled my eyes. Persistent much?

I knew we wouldn't stop asking me about what I wanted to know, so I decided to ask a different question to get him off my back. "What did Kim mean when she said that I had already won over the guys?"

"Uh," was his reply, followed by silence.

I opened my eyes to look at him.

Was it just my imagination or had he somehow gotten closer? I looked down at the space between us, there was barely an inch. Oh yo, we had definantly moved closer to one another.

I hurriedly closed my eyes, and started taking in deep breaths.

In… he is hot… out.

In… I really should move over again… out.

In… I wasn't moving a muscle … out.

"I had already… told the guys about you," Paul said, interrupting my silent breathing session. "They trust my opinion."

"Oh," I said, lamely.

There was an awkward pause.

"My turn," he said. "Do you have a boyfriend?"

Woah! Where did that come from? I was not expecting that.

Now it was my turn to be speechless. "Uh."

I didn't dare open my eyes, when I replied, "No."

"Great," he said, a little to chipper.

I didn't really appreciate guys making fun of my lacking romance life.

"Then you won't mind if I ask you out on a date."

My entire body stilled. Was he serious? Or was he just playing with my mind?

I wanted to open my eyes and look at his facial expression, but I was too afraid that he would be laughing at me, in some type of cruel joke.

Is this the payback for the flicking?

"I'm deadly serious about this Talliah," he said, very close to my ear. "I wouldn't joke about this."

Oh great, there goes all my theories. With the exception of one.

He was looking for a rebound girl, someone to help him get over his broken heart. Was I prepared to be that girl? Was I prepared to only get the scrapings that another woman left behind?

I didn't know. If it had been any other man but Paul, I would have told them to go to hell. I respected myself to much. This was Paul though, I couldn't imagine giving up what little he'd give me… it was near unthinkable.

I could feel tears forming in my eyes. Either way, I'd be traveling down a road of heartache and pain.

It wasn't fair.

"Are you crying," he asked worriedly, grabbing my shoulder.

I ignored his question, waging the battle in my mind instead.

Before I knew what he was doing, I felt him grab my shoulders and pull me into a sitting position. I opened my eyes in shock.

"What are you doing?" I asked.

"Comforting you," he said, pulling me to his naked chest. "I didn't mean to make you cry."

If I had been watching this on a movie, I definantly would have had an 'aww' moment. But experiencing it in real person was completely different. Instead of having an 'aww' moment, I was having a 'are you freaking kidding me? Don't touch me with your naked chest, I'll only cry more' kind of moment.

What can I say, I'm unique.

"Paul," I said, pulling away from his chest. "Do you really think you're up to going on a date?"

He gave me a cocky grin, "I've been dying to go on a date with you since the moment I saw you."

I'm glad it was starting to get dark out, so he didn't see my entire face turn red.

At the same time, I wanted to laugh in his face because the first time he saw me was at the kissing booth, but he probably didn't even remember that. The arrogant beast.

"No," I said, forcing myself to get serious, even though my heart was doing summersaults of joy. "I mean, don't you need a little bit more time to get over your last relationship?"

His hands squeezed my arms a little tighter. "I don't know what you've heard, but I've never been in a serious relationship before."

I sat there dumbfounded.

"Not that our relationship wouldn't be serious." He growled, "Because it will."

I still just sat there, not moving.

My mind just couldn't grasp that he was being serious. I _heard_ the pain in his voice. You can't just fake that. Why would you want to?

Did that mean he was lying?

He couldn't be lying. Paul just… he just wasn't the type of guy to lie.

Talli, my mind said, you've only known him for two days. How do you know he's not a liar?

My heart argued, because I know him enough to know he's a decent guy.

Furthermore, why would he want to date me? Not that I didn't give myself any self worth, but come on… what did he see in me?

I didn't know what to think.

"Talliah?"

I looked up at him. I could barely see him, he looked worried, but I didn't know what answer to give him.

"Paul," I said, glad that I couldn't really see his face. "Do you mind if we go meet up with the others now?"

It was quiet for a few minutes before he gruffly said, "Sure."

Getting up, I started heading for the house. I was half way there, when Paul grabbed my upper arm and said, "They're out back, behind the house. We're having a bonfire."

He didn't let go of my arm and I didn't want him to.

When we walked around the corner of the house, I couldn't believe how huge the fire was. It was all the more amazing because I hadn't seen it from the front of the house. I guess it had to be big, there were so many people.

Looking around, I found Ana and started walking towards her. Paul let go of my arm, and I could feel the heat leaving my body. It took all my will power not to turn around and walk back, but I made it to Ana in one piece.

When she noticed me, she gave me a half hearted smile and moved over a smidge so I could sit down.

I followed Paul with my eyes as he sat down on the opposite side of the bonfire from us.

Now that there was better lighting, I could see the stress lines on his face. I wanted to know who really put them there, that girl or me?

He was ignoring me, I thought, as he looked at everyone but me. The jealousy that consumed me, was unreal. I wanted to walk around the fire smacking everyone he looked at, like a child playing Duck Duck Goose.

I bit my lip, fighting the urge.

As the night went on, I found myself in a continual state of upheaval. One minute I was listening to someone's story, then the next I was on the verge of a mental breakdown.

I didn't know what to do. I knew what I wanted to do, but I didn't what I should do.

It was at the end of someone's story that the woman next to Ana whispered, "Paul's about to play a song. Count yourself lucky, he never plays for us."

And I did.

I watched him adjust the guitar's strings, his serious expression inviting no one in. I blocked out the joking going on around the campfire, alert to Paul's every movement.

The people around me started to quiet, when it looked like Paul was ready to play. I don't think it would have mattered to me if they had shut up or not, I wouldn't have noticed their voices anyway.

I was completely focused on one voice, which belonged to Paul.

The second he started to play, he looked straight across the fire, into my eyes. I couldn't look away.

His voice was so beautiful, he hit every pitch perfectly. I wanted to close my eyes and just listen to the words, but I couldn't. It felt as if Paul was using both his words and his eyes to hypnotize me.

It was working.

The words to the song struck a chord in my heart and I never wanted to stop listening. Paul sang them with such sincerity, that I had no doubt as to his connection to song's main character.

It was about a man searching for his love. He didn't know who she was or what she looked like, but he knew his heart did. I had heard this song before, it was on one of the earlier New Moon CD's. I thought I knew every word, but listening to Paul sing them in person, gave the lyrics a whole new meaning.

As the song came to a close, I could feel tears on my cheeks. I was no longer in doubt as to whether or not I would go on a date with Paul. I knew my answer.

I knew my answer the moment he changed the last line of the song, the entire time looking at me.

On the CD, the song ended with the man still searching.

Tonight, it ended with him finding her.


	12. Chapter 12

Sorry, it took me until mid afternoon to update. There's these little things called New Moon tickets that I was busy getting a hold of! Also, I made it so people that don't have an account can review me. I think that's great, but please tell me your name if you do have an account so I can thank you. That's all, I hope you enjoy this chapter!

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**Chapter 12:**

I tried to get a hold of Paul after the bonfire, but it was useless. After he sang, I was to immobile to do anything. I could barely think let alone walk over to him and form coherent speech, even if all I wanted to say was 'YES!'

By the time I was able to process thoughts, he was gone. I looked all around the circle of the bonfire, but he was nowhere to be seen. I used the lame excuse of having to go to the bathroom to walk back to the house; I was hoping to find him inside.

There was no one inside.

I scanned the vehicles, but I didn't see him in anyone of them. It had then come to my attention, that I had never seen Paul in a vehicle. Even the day he was supposed to meet Ana, he was walking. As a matter of fact, most of the times I've seen him, he was walking.

I wondered about this, trying to distract myself from the reality of Paul being nowhere in sight.

I didn't want to go back outside. There were too many happy people out there. Instead I sat by myself on the couch, calling the airport about postponing my airline ticket for a few more days. After an hour of hassling and being hassled on the phone, I had finally accomplished changing the dates.

Sadly it wasn't free of charge.

This better be the best damn date EVER!

Not that it wouldn't be, I hadn't even been on a date with Paul yet, and yet I wouldn't mind paying a charge for every time I was around him. He was just worth it.

It was too late to call Todd, not that I wanted to anyways. I was dreading that phone conversation. He'd probably pass out when I told him, then it'd be up to me to save him from hundreds of miles away.

Yah, I could wait another twelve hours before I called him. It'd give me time to think of what to say.

I decided being a lone wolf in the house didn't suit me, so I walked back out to the bonfire. I was surprised to see that a lot of people had left.

I still didn't see Paul.

I stayed for another half an hour before I asked Ana if she was ready to go. She just nodded.

The car ride back to our room was amazingly quiet. I glanced a few times at Ana to see if she was breathing.

She was.

I went right to bed when we got there. I must have fallen a sleep instantaneously, because I don't even remember Ana shutting the light off.

My sleep must have been very deep because I didn't wake up to those crazy howling wolves. Although, my dreams were full of them.

I woke up bright and early. Ana was still a sleep, which was no surprise. I decided to take a walk around town, I had seen a sporting goods store, and I needed a few more days worth of clothes.

The store didn't have a lot of variety, but I managed. The man behind the counter was nice, I tried not to get annoyed by how helpful he was being. What was his name… Mike? Anyways, I made a mental note never to talk within hearing distance of him, he was a horrible gossip.

What was wrong with this town? Was everyone nosey?

I breathed a deep sigh of relief the second I walked outside. Thank heavens that was over with. The next time I would go in there, I would have to be really desperate.

I started walking back to the room, when a very undistinguished building caught my eye.

No way! They have a hospital here? Who would have thought this rinky dink town would have a hospital.

My feet started moving of their own accord. I was reaching for the door before I had the brains enough to ask myself what the heck I was doing.

Hello Talli, what the hell are you doing?

I blushed, already knowing my answer. I wanted to see if they had any medical billing jobs available.

I groaned. Wow, I really was sad.

I was turning to walk away, when the door swung open. I didn't give myself time to process what I was doing, I just darted inside.

Giving a mental 'WooHoo' for out smarting myself.

Really Talli… I mean, really?

I ignored my lameness, walking to the front desk instead.

"Hello," I said, looking like a dork, holding my sporting goods bag. "I was wondering if you're hiring right now for medical billers?"

When the woman's head came up, I was stunned. She had to be one of the most beautiful people on the planet.

She smiled, making me even more jealous. "I'm Bella," she said, "and we're always looking for some extra hands."

You can have mine, I thought, completely stunned.

She stood up, "Let me go get my husband," she said, walking out of the room.

Pure one-hundred percent envy coursed through my veins, when she walked back into the room.

She was MARRIED to that sexy piece of meat!

Kill me now, life was just too unfair.

I was surprised because normally scrawny, white guys weren't my forte'. My mind popped in a visual of Paul, I was more attracted to Mr. Tall Dark and Handsome types.

"Hello," the doctor said, dazzling me with his voice.

Somehow I pictured the movie with Tom Cruise. This guy definantly had me at 'hello'.

"Uh hi," I said reaching my hand out to shake his. "I'm Talliah."

When my hand made contact with his, something in my mind just snapped. Almost as if the entire time I was being hypnotized and now suddenly I came crashing back to reality.

Maybe it was because his hands were so cold or maybe the professional in me was trying to get out, but suddenly, I wasn't so dazzled by these two.

I cleared my throat, "I was just in town and I noticed this hospital. I've recently been thinking of relocating and I was wondering if you needed any medical billers?"

He gave me a crooked smile, making me slightly uncomfortable, in the good way. "We could always make room for an extra hand."

I smiled, about to say something, when the bell over the door jangled.

Once the man coming through the door saw me, he stopped in his tracks. "Talli? What the hell are you doing here?"

I squinted, not being able to make him out because of the sunlight the door was letting in behind him. Whoever it was, Bella must have known him because she shot a quick glance up to… what was his name?

I can't believe I didn't get his name. One of the first rules in the business was to learn somebody's name.

Frig.

"You know Jacob?" Bella's musical voice asked.

Finally seeing his face, I smiled at him. He didn't look to happy, actually, he looked down right angry.

"Yes," I answered, "He's a friend of some of my friends."

I wonder if they knew Paul.

The doctor tensed.

"Yah," Jacob went on, "she's a friend of Paul's." The entire time he said that, he was looking at the doctor.

Can you say weird? It looked like they were communicating on some kind of silent level.

I tried to ignore it, but it gave me the willies.

I turned to Bella, "You might know Kim or Claire."

"Oh," she smiled politely. "I know of them, I personally have never met them. I'm good friends with Seth though."

I felt the smile break out on my face. Finally, some common ground.

"I could have used you a few days ago, he was talking my ear off. Little did I know, all you have to do is shove food in his face."

Bella laughed, it sounded like bells. I felt my self-esteem decline two notches. She had a beautiful laugh that made people look on in envy. When I laugh, people are looking for a whole other reason.

"Uh Talli?" Jacob interrupted.

"Yah?" I replied.

"I thought you were leaving today? When is your flight?"

I blushed. Oops, this could get to be a little embarrassing.

"I decided not to fly out tonight," I said, pretending fascination with the portrait on the wall behind him. "I'll be leaving in a few days."

"Does Paul know?"

My eyes snapped back to his. I wonder if he knew Paul had asked me out on a date. Not wanting to sound desperate I replied, "No, I hadn't gotten around to calling Kim or Claire."

"What are you doing here?" he asked, giving my body a visual inspection. "You don't look hurt. Why didn't you call to tell us you were going to the hospital?"

Woah! What was up with the interrogation? "Jeeze Jacob, relax. I'm not here because I'm sick."

"Then why are you here," he asked rudely, as if I had no right to be here.

I crossed my arms and narrowed my eyes, "I could ask you the same thing." I gave him a once over, "You don't look to badly injured yourself."

He had the decency to blush.

Bells were ringing behind me, I turned around to see Bella laughing. "I really like you," she said. "Jacob doesn't get scolded enough. I'm glad to see someone putting him in his place."

It was my turn to blush.

I couldn't believe I was getting in an argument around a potential future employer. Forget ever getting a job here.

"So Talliah," stated the doctor, "I would love to see your credentials when you get the chance and go over them with you."

It was if he read my mind.

I smiled, relieved that I hadn't just blown my semi-interview. "Thank you," I said. "I'll drop by again, as soon as possible."

"And please," he said, "Call me Edward."

I smiled, walking towards the door. Now I knew his name.

"Hold on a minute outside Talli," Jacob said, "I'll walk you back."

I didn't know what else to say, so I nodded, pushing the door open.

I had to laugh at the visual of Jacob walking me back. I could see the motel from here. I highly doubt any scary creatures were going to jump out and grab me.

This was Paul's friend though, I didn't want to make a bad impression.

I waited a few more moments until Jacob came out. He didn't look to happy.

Maybe I wouldn't tease him about walking me back.

"I don't think you should work here," he blurted out.

I didn't see that coming.

"Uh, do you mind telling me why?" I asked.

"It's hard to explain," he started rubbing the back of his neck. "I –"

Ana walked out of the motel, I waved my hand and yelled at her. Spotting us, she started walking over.

"Oh sorry," I said, "I didn't mean to interrupt. What were you saying?"

I think I angered him when I interrupted because he said roughly, "I don't think you should work there. Paul has a… a feud with the Cullen's. He doesn't like them, and you'd just be causing problems by working there."

I had stopped looking at Ana and my attention was now fully on Jacob.

A feud? Really? What century were we living in? People don't have feuds now a days.

Still, my curiosity was piquet. "Come on Jacob, a feud?" I laughed, "Paul's not that archaic."

He looked like he was at a loss for words. "It's okay Jake," I patted him on the back. "If push comes to shove, I'm sure a nice dinner party will calm him down."

He gave out a strangled cry.

I was laughing at his expression when Ana made it to us.

"Hi Jake," she smiled.

He gave her a half hearted smile, he looked more in pain than anything. I laughed harder, he grimaced.

"What's so funny?" Ana asked, feeling out of the loop.

"Where do I begin?" I chuckled.

"How about, why are you here?" she asked, taking me a back.

"What?" I said looking at her sour expression. I thought she'd be happy that I was staying a few more days.

"You heard me," she said.

Jacob tensed beside me, putting himself slightly between Ana and me.

Wierdo, I thought, pushing his shoulder.

He didn't move, but I could feel a slight shaking when I touched him. Almost like a cat when it was purring, only Jacob didn't look like a happy cat.

Ignoring him, I scooted over. "I thought you'd be happy that I decided to stay a few more days."

"What about Todd?" she asked quickly.

I gave her a confused look. "He can last a few more days without me."

She huffed, "Only yesterday you were yelling at Paul, saying the exact opposite."

She cut me off before I could explain anything, "What changed your mind?"

I was too annoyed by her reaction to blush. Instead I schooled my expression, saying, "I liked my visit and wanted to extend it. I didn't realize you would have such a problem with it."

There was an awkward silence. The first in our entire relationship.

I didn't like it.

She shrugged, "Suit yourself."

Woah, somebody got up on the wrong side of the bed this morning… and it wasn't me.

Ana faced Jacob, completely ignoring me.

I surprisingly didn't feel offended. I was thinking more along the lines of, good luck Jake.

He must have sensed it to, because the second Ana said she wanted to take a shower before going over to Sam and Emily's, he pounced. "Great, while you're taking a shower, I'll bring Talli over with me. That way she won't be bored and you'll have the car for when you're ready to come over."

It looked like she didn't know what to say. She was probably kicking herself in the butt for not thinking her plans through. I couldn't have been a best friend for so many years and not known that she was hoping to visit more with Jacob.

I wanted to laugh out loud when she looked at me with her pitiful face. Oh yah, she definantly wanted to spend more time with him.

Good, I thought, it serves you right for being such a turkey.

"Are you ready?" asked Jake.

"Uh yah," I said, "Just let me throw my stuff into the room."

"Nah," he said, "Ana will take them in for you, won't you Ana."

She looked to be in shock.

"Um, thanks," I held back another laugh.

She glared and I suddenly feared for my clothing. What would she do to them?

"No problem," she said, grabbing them from my hands.

Really, I wanted to know what she was going to do to them.

"Talli," Jake barked from the front seat. I guess I would have to hold a private pity party for them later.

Once I was in the car, I ran a hand through my hair. I really should have put it up today. All it would do is frizz; I'd end up looking like some monster.

"Oh man," Jacob said, reaching under his seat for something. When he couldn't find it, he reached across the seat to open the glove box. He pulled out a can of Febreeze.

It didn't bother me that he was spraying it in the vehicle, until I noticed that he was spraying it mostly at me.

"Jacob?" I asked, "What are you doing?"

He averted his eyes, "I'm making the car smell better."

My mouth hung open, I could not believe this. "Are you saying I'm smelly?"

He winced, "No, I'm saying the car is."

"You are not!"

Oh my gosh! I smelled? I couldn't go visit people if I smelled.

Noooo! Forget visiting people, I couldn't visit Paul if I smelled.

Wasn't this just perfect, my hair was frizzing and I smelled.

"It's nothing," he lied.

The liar, he was so lying!

"Then why do you keep spraying me?" I shrieked. "Stop the car. Stop the car!"

"It's not you," Jacob said, in between sprays. "I can smell Dr. Cullen's cologne on you and I just really don't like that brand."

"You're lying," I whispered, in conspiracy mode. "Edward's cologne smells…" my mind momentarily blanked, "well I don't know what it smells like but it's perfect."

Jacob winced, spraying me some more, "I wouldn't say that around Paul."

I narrowed my eyes, "Stop spraying me damn it! You know, you're only supposed to spray it a few times." I rolled down my window to get my point across.

Ew, I could feel the stickiness of the Febreeze in my hair, would this ever come out?

"Don't rub your hair with your hand," he hollered.

I jumped out of my skin.

"Stop yelling at me," I yelled back.

"You're going to make your hair stink."

Was he seriously continuing to insult me? "I think Bella was right, you need to learn some manners. Your poor wife, she'd have to live to a thousand just to get them imbedded in your brain!"

Jacob smirked.

I coughed, there was no air left in the car.

When we finally reached the driveway, I didn't wait for the vehicle to stop. I opened my door and jumped out.

Air! Oh how I love you AIR!

"Talliah!" I heard the most beautiful voice holler. I looked up, spotting Paul running towards me.

"Jacob you runt," he bellered. "What the hell were you thinking? Why didn't you slow down?"

Jacob got out of the vehicle. "How was I supposed to know she was going to jump out?"

"You should have locked the doors, just in case," Paul said, getting closer to me.

"He wouldn't have had to," I said, sucking in oxygen to my lungs, "if he didn't attack me with Febreeze the entire ride here."

Reaching me, Paul pulled me to him hugging me. "Are you okay? Jacob's an idiot, why was he spraying Feb –" Paul's hand stilled in my hair.

"Paul," Jacob said in warning. "Paul, it's not what you think."

Paul was shaking, and not those little shakes that I had seen before. I'm talking earthquake shakes.

"Paul? Paul? Paul, what's wrong," I said, starting to panic, these weren't attention grabbing shakes.

Somehow Jacob appeared by us.

"You," Paul said, tremors running through his entire body. "YOU BROUGHT HER TO THEM!"

Is he epileptic or something? Oh my gosh, he must be epileptic and here I was just sitting here. He was dying right before my eyes and I was just SITTING HERE!

"Jacob," I screamed, "Go call 911!"

My mind registered a door slamming and male voices calling Paul's name, but I ignored them.

"Paul," I said, petting his arms. I didn't know what else to do. "You need to just take deep breaths."

"Talli, you need to give Paul his space." Jacob said, peeling my hands off of Paul.

"ARE YOU INSANE!" I yelled, "He's having a seizure!"

My yelling, kicking, and biting didn't help though, because in the end, Jacob was way bigger and stronger than me.

He handed me off to who knows who, and I just continued my struggle. Whoever it was, hefted me over his shoulder and took me farther away from Paul.

I screamed.

"Talli calm down," said Seth.

"Seth?" I asked. "Seth, you've got to go help him."

He opened his mouth to say something, but Paul cried out in agony, "JACOB, I'M GOING TO KILL YOU!!"

I slumped in Who Knows Who's arms.

He grunted, "I think she fainted."

I could hear Paul cursing Jacob. It astounded me that he was having a seizure and still found the air between breaths to curse someone. Stupid, idiot man, he should be saving his breath.

Who Knows Who laid me down on the ground.

I took off like lightning towards Paul.

"Shit –"

"GET HER—"

I could hear each breath I took as I ran.

Rip

Tare

Snap

Crack

What in the –

I darted back towards Who Knows Who and Seth… jumping in their arms in pure terror.


	13. Chapter 13

Okay, so a BIG thanks to everyone that reviewed my last chapter. I was really surprised by how many people reviewed, it made me smile inside. I hope you like this one, have fun reading.

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**Chapter 13:**

I wasn't stunned, so much as I was… stunned.

Did that just happen?

Was there a word for my utter amazement?

I decided I wasn't going to be one of those sissy girls that needed a brown bag to breath in and out with. I mean, isn't this what I always wanted? A real life Buffy The Vampire Slayer moment?

I'm starting to rethink that plan.

Being anything but human was overrated.

The guys formed a semi-circle around me.

They were all staring at me. I was tempted to shout 'BOO' and see how many of them jumped.

No, I wouldn't, but it was a funny thought.

Oh my gosh Talli, here you are experiencing a… a… a what do you call it moment, and all you can think about is playing jokes!

I'm doomed I say, doomed!

One of them coughed, he was probably trying to get a reaction out of me, I could care less. I just saw my freakin love interest turn into a big hairy animal with a tail! A TAIL, and they thought I actually cared about how they _thought_ I was handling the news. I didn't need a shrink to tell me I was handling the news pretty damn good.

At least, I hoped I was handling the news good. I hadn't thrown up, cried, passed out or even freaked out. Well, I hadn't freaked out past my initial jumping on Seth and the guy who's name I learned was Collin.

What did they expect though? One minute I was running to save a human and the next he turn into some massive, two story building sized creature. It didn't help that it, he, whatever it was had fangs the size of Mount Rushmore and a growl to match it.

After the it, er, Paul thing ran away, I sat right down on the ground. That is where I currently was sitting and that is where I planned on sitting for at least the next few minutes.

Seth had tried explaining to me that Paul was a werewolf, and that he had just lost his temper… no big deal. Yah okay, pull my other one! If it was no big deal, every time I'd get angry, I'd turn into a big hairy fluff ball too.

Was this even natural or was this some freaky psy-fi experiment. I could handle natural but did I really want to be hanging out with people that had a whole funky chemical experiment imbalance thing going on?

"Where's Emily?" I heard someone ask, "Shouldn't she be out here?"

"Uh, not the best example right now," I heard someone whisper, so that I could barely hear him.

Why wouldn't she –

I touched my face. That's what happened to her.

I heard silence, so I knew all the guys were staring at me touch my face.

I wanted so badly to know and now that I did, I was just as full of questions as I was before. My mom always told me to wait before asking a question, maybe that way, I'd figure it out on my own.

Wow mom, thumbs up on that advice. I wish you were here to give me some more right now.

"She looks pale," said the same person from before.

Well no duh Sherlock, I just found out Paul's a freaking werewolf, how would you look? Stupid, dense, big guys that are to tan to look pale. It's not my fault I was the only normal looking one out of the group, not all of us can be naturally gifted with the tannest of skin tones. I mean come –

Wait.

They all were tan.

They all were big.

They all looked similar to Paul.

"You're all werewolves?" I whispered.

They stopped talking amongst themselves. Seth, who was sitting next to me, squeezed my hand.

"Yah," he said, as if we were talking about the weather.

Wow.

"Do Kim and Claire know?" I asked.

I heard someone snort, followed by a 'damn it, that hurt', so I took it my answer was yes.

Hmm. I was friends with people from one of the most popular bands in the country that were all actually werewolves… can you say twisted?

"You know Talli, we're just like everyone else, only we're here to protect people," Seth said, trying to reassure me.

Only there was one major difference between us. I only turned into a hypothetical monster once a month; he turned into a real one all the time.

This called for a major helping of chocolate. I stood up, wiping my butt off to get all the sand and leaves off.

I felt like a queen because the second I stood up, the guys jumped up as well. Did they have queens in werewolf world?

"So," I said, looking at no one in particular. "Who wants to drive me to the store for some chocolate?"

No one said anything, they just stared.

"I would really rather not drive at the moment," I said, looking at them all.

"Seth, you take her," Sam ordered, "The rest of us will deal with things here."

I wondered what kinds of 'things' he meant. Whatever they were, Sam didn't look too pleased to be dealing with them.

Seth nodded his head, then we walked to the car. When we started pulling out of the driveway, I could see Ana pulling in. I had a half second heart attack where I wanted to yell at her to turn around, but I caught myself. She wasn't in any danger, if they really wanted to hurt us, they would have done so by now.

Instead I waved in passing. She must have still been in a sour mood, because she didn't wave back.

Whatever, I didn't need to deal with a moody woman on top of a moody werewolf, it just wasn't happening.

"You can't tell her, you know," Seth said, looking at me across the small expanse of the car. "I know you'll want to, but you can't."

I nodded; I didn't know what else to do. She was my best friend, but ever since we came here, it's like we were becoming totally different people. Only two days ago, I would have wanted to tell her every minute detail, but now I just didn't feel the need.

That thought made me want to cry, so I shoved it out of my mind, thinking about other things instead.

"What other 'things'," I said with air quotes, "did Sam mean he had to deal with?"

If I thought Seth would be shy about telling me, I thought wrong. "Well, if you think you're freaking out, just imagine Paul. He's probably going ballistic, wondering what you're thinking. Cause believe it or not, it's just as hard on us when… uh… people find out."

"So then why did he change in the first place," I asked confused, "If he didn't want me to find out?"

"Like I said before, when we get angry, we start to phase. We try to keep our control, but when something like that catches us off guard… well, it's… it's hard to control our temper."

Oh my gosh, did he seriously lose his temper over fricken Febreeze?

"You have got to be joking Seth," I said sarcastically. "I mean, yah I was pissed about Jacob spraying me with Febreeze, but really? I mean come on."

Seth fidgeted in his seat. "There's only so much I can tell you," He glanced at me. "Paul has to explain most of it to you. But, well… let's just say Jacob let you be in harm's way and Paul, well… he didn't like that."

My heart did a little giddy jump at the thought of talking to Paul again. Was that a good thing though? Should I be excited at the idea of talking to a werewolf that I had a crush on? Did I even still have a crush on him?

I blushed. Oh yah, I definantly still had an unhealthy fixation on him.

At least something in my life stayed normal, even if it was one of my least favorite traits.

Wait, I was confused. That seemed to be happening a lot lately. "What do you mean Jacob put me in harm's way?" I asked Seth. "We didn't do anything dangerous."

Seth coughed, "Um, that's going to be a Paul question. I can't answer that."

I narrowed my eyes, "I just saw a freakin werewolf and you're worried about telling me another secret?" My voice rose with each word.

He winced, "No, but some things are just left to… the werewolf."

"What the hell is that supposed to mean?" I said, waving my hands around for emphasis. "You're a werewolf, so tell me!"

It didn't escape my attention that he was driving faster, probably hoping that once we got in public I wouldn't be so inquisitive.

Oh little boy, how little you know me.

"Yah, I'm a werewolf," he said looking around, as if looking for any witnesses. "But I'm not you're werewolf."

My werewolf?

"My werewolf?" I questioned. "What do you mean, _my_ werewolf?"

"Ugh," he said, throwing his head back into the seat. "Stop asking me questions, you're going to get me in trouble with Paul. I don't need any more scars."

My eyes bugged out! "He hurts you!" I yelled.

Seth jumped at my unexpected reaction. "Stop yelling, haven't you ever heard of inside voices?"

I narrowed my eyes, "He hurts you? I don't care if you're human or werewolf, you don't have to put up with abuse."

Seth burst out laughing.

"It's not funny," I said, scooting closer to him. "You shouldn't have to hide behind your laughter, it's not healthy."

He looked at me, laughing harder. "Talli" laugh "I'm so glad" laugh "Paul" laugh laugh laugh "found you."

I didn't know whether to take that as an insult or a compliment, so I just sat there until he stopped laughing.

Still chuckling here and there, Seth stated. "Werewolves heal fast, so if we get hurt, it's really not that big of a deal."

I started to say something but Seth continued talking.

"When one of us loses our tempers, it's usually up to the rest of us to make sure he cools down. Now today, Jacob was the reason Paul phased, so I guarantee Jake's going to come back with a few scars from where Paul let his anger out."

I stared at him as if he was insane.

Noticing my look, Seth hurriedly said, "It's like getting in a fight with brothers, but instead of throwing punches, we bite and scratch."

"Like girls," I said aloud.

Seth tensed, "Like _manly_ girls."

I raised an eyebrow. "I know, I know," Seth winced, "I can't believe I just said that. I'm going to get it from the guys when I get back."

I didn't like how miserable he looked, "Don't worry Seth, your secret is safe with me."

Seth gave me a half hearted smile. I didn't blame him, he was trusting me with a lot of secrets and he was probably nervous about whether I'd keep them or not.

Arriving at the little party store, we both got out in search of chocolate. I thought I was being a pig, grabbing a handful of Little Debbies. Glancing at Seth I realized, that if I was a pig then he was nothing but a hog. He had both arms packed full of junk food.

"I'd hate to see you on a bad day," I said. He shrugged, grabbing his goodies from off of the counter.

Back in the car, he started shoving food in his mouth like a man who was eating his first meal after a hunger strike.

"Disgusting Seth," I said. "Why don't you just slow down and enjoy your food?"

He raised his eyebrows, "Because if this isn't gone by the time we get back to Sam's…" He shivered, "_they'll_ eat it!"

"Just tell them it's yours." There, I thought, problem solved.

He looked at me like I had just broken out of a mental institution. "Are you insane? That only works for the women."

Speaking of which, I couldn't believe Kim and Claire had husbands that were werewolves. How did that work exactly?

"Seth," I asked, "So basically if you don't lose your temper, you can stay human all of the time."

He nodded, his cheeks looking like a chipmunk.

That's good for the wives, I thought. Blushing with where my thoughts had taken me.

Leah was the only girl without a husband.

"Holy Shizzle Biscuits!" I exclaimed.

The car swerved, "Dnt dwa la wun em dirbin!" Seth yelled, but I understood that he was trying to say: don't do that when I'm driving.

"Leah's a werewolf to isn't she?" I said, jumping up and down in my seat. "No friggin way! She's a wearwolf girl?"

How did she do that? Wow, to be the only girl, that had to be tough. No wonder she was such a bi… hard person to get along with.

Seth cleared his throat. "Yah, she's the only girl. She surprised us to, because we didn't know girls could be werewolves."

I gave him my biggest 'that's sexist' look, "I can't believe we're talking about real life werewolves and you have the nerve to say you can't believe a girl could be one."

"Sorry," he winced, holding his hands up in surrender, using his knees to drive.

I was going to ask him more questions, but he started eating again, so I knew it was pointless.

Seth finished his last chocolate bar, as we were pulling into the driveway. "AH HAH!" he hollered.

I was really starting to question his sanity, I think he knew it to because he looked at me and red flushed to his cheeks.

I smiled at his expression, it was just so cute.

"Are you ready to go inside," he asked, walking towards me, when we got out of the car.

"Yah," I replied, "No prob."

I didn't move.

"Uh, I kind of meant right now Talli," Seth said, speaking to me like an idiot.

"Yah, I know," I started walking slowly.

"Seth," I paused, "Do you think Paul's going to be in there?"

He looked me in the eyes, "Does it matter?"

I didn't say anything.

"She better go inside or I'm going to shoot her," a deep voice said from behind us.

Initially I was scared, moving closer to Seth, but then I recognized the voice. Turning around I saw Jacob; my mind registered two things.

First, he was back to being in his normal human form.

Second, in his hand was a can of Febreeze.


	14. Chapter 14

Wow, I really love your reviews, thanks so much. I hope you like this chapter. 

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**Chapter 14:**

I laughed my butt off, and yes I did the high screechy laugh. It was just the entire image of Jacob standing there, threatening to spray me with Febreeze…

He actually thought I would be afraid!

Oh my gosh, my gut hurt.

I think he was kind of put out because he seemed to be pouting, which of course, only made me laugh harder.

"Okay, okay, okay," Jacob said, striding towards us. "I get it, you don't find me threatening. You don't have to rub it in."

"Stop Jacob, stop," I said, holding my hand up, leaning on Seth for support. "I can't breathe."

Aww, he looked like I had rubbed him the wrong way.

Oh my gosh, did I just think that? I started laughing even harder. People rub cats and dogs the wrong way. Haha, and he was a dog!

"You know," I said. "It could be kind of fun, making fun of the fact that you guys are dogs."

"Wolves." Seth stated. "We're manly wolves!" He reiterated.

"Yah, well," I said, standing up on my own. "I think we've established that you're manly something."

He blushed at my reference to our earlier conversation.

"Wow," Jacob said, now standing next to me. "You're taking this way better than I thought you would."

I shrugged, I'm not one for hysterics, well unless you count all my mental musings.

"Why?" I asked, "How have other people taken it?"

Jacob grinned, "Well, most of them faint or definantly scream their heads off. Two of the girls actually threw up. Only Nessie and Claire handled it like pros."

"Yah well," Seth said, "They grew up knowing, not all of us could get that lucky with our… girls."

"Why," I asked again. "Are they related to a werewolf or something?"

"Uh," Jake said, averting his eyes.

"That's one of those Paul questions," Seth piped up.

My eyes narrowed, I was starting to think he was saying that just to annoy me.

Speaking of which, "I take it that Ana is inside?"

Jacob cringed, "Yup."

"Oh come on she's not that bad," I swatted his arm lightly, so I didn't need to get a cast.

"I don't know," He smirked.

I rolled my eyes. "She's the kind of person that needs to grow on you."

"Yah she is," Jake said sarcastically, walking with me towards the house.

I was starting to get a little nervous. Would Paul be in there?

I wasn't about to tell Jacob, but I was really glad he pulled the whole Febreeze stunt. Now I knew that I wouldn't be afraid of them. But there was one huge difference between Paul and Jake, I wasn't falling hard core for Jake. It was different getting along with a werewolf than it was staying in love with them.

"He's the same person Talli," said Jake.

"Mhmm," I murmured, just now noticing Seth had disappeared. "Where's Seth?"

Jacob didn't even bother looking behind him. "He probably phased to show Paul what you talked about."

"What," I croaked.

He looked back at me, "I take it Seth didn't tell you about our… unique communication?"

I shook my head.

"Well," he went on. "When we're in our wolf form, we can hear one another's thoughts. Kind of like me being able to hear what you're thinking right now, only you're not a werewolf and we're in human form."

I paused in shock. "Are you telling me, that Paul will know about everything we discussed in the car?"

"Basically," Jake said.

Not that I had anything to be embarrassed of, but dang. Note to self, never tell Seth a secret.

Oh my gosh, not only Seth but all of them.

At least one good thing came out of Seth tattle tailing, now I knew Paul wasn't in the house. Somehow I was expecting that news to cheer my up or relieve the pressure, but now I just felt bereft.

I'm so loco.

Walking into the house, the first thing I noticed was how every pair of eyes were on me. I tried ignoring it, but they all made it so obvious.

"Uh, hi," I smiled. That's all it took, then everyone was back to talking normally. Not that they weren't still chancing glances in my direction, but at least it wasn't as pronounced as last time.

I walked over to the table where most of the girls were sitting. Claire looked like she was about to burst at the seams. Emily looked at me in sympathy and Ana… well Ana was in one of her moods.

"Soooo," Claire said, dragging out the 'o'. "I heard you spotted some wolves today?"

My eyes bugged, I thought we weren't supposed to bring this up in front of Ana. My eyes skidded over to said best friend, she didn't seem to notice.

"Uh," I looked over at Emily who was shaking her head at Claire. Oh, oh! Claire was speaking to me in code. Oh, this could be fun.

"Yah," I said, winking at Claire. "They looked pretty porky to me, maybe they should chill out on the food intake."

Five heads whipped around to scowl at me, including Jacob's, Claire and I laughed. Out of nowhere Emily joined it, "Yah, I've been thinking the same thing. Maybe I should stop feeding them scraps."

Pure silence followed her statement. I looked over and every male in the house was staring at Emily like… a lost puppy.

I looked at Claire and we both started laughing at the same time.

"That's just evil," Jacob walked up beside me. "You can't feed people and then just stop."

"We're talking about the wolves Jacob, not people." said Ana. "They're just getting lazy anyways, not hunting for themselves."

I could tell Jake wanted to say something, but he kept his mouth shut.

I grinned, well at least until the door opened. Then it was Jake grinning and me feeling sorry for myself.

I didn't need to turn around to know that it was Paul that walked through the door. First and foremost, I sensed him. My body tingled all over and my heart rate picked up. Second the room suddenly grew abnormally quiet, as if everyone was expecting something to happen. Finally, my last clue was Ana, her face split into the largest smile I've seen out of her all day.

I wanted to turn around, I could barely wait to see him, but I didn't. Instead I gave Emily a 'please talk or say something' look. She stood up, causing everyone to avert their eyes to her.

She's so amazing!

"Talli," she said, causing everyone to look at me again.

Did she want me to hate her?

"I need to start cooking dinner, would you like to help?"

I practically spit on her saying 'yes' so fast.

Going into the kitchen, I realized that I had momentarily forgotten that the house had an open layout. So going into the kitchen really wasn't much of a safety zone.

Well, I had to give Emily credit for trying.

Sucking in air, I turned around, looking towards the door. There he was, all brooding and sexy.

Had we started cooking yet? It was getting hot in here.

He was looking at me, which wasn't a surprise, there was no doubt in my mind, that when I looked, he would be. Wow, I'm just a little conceited.

"Hey," I murmured.

"Hi," he said gruffly, making his way towards one of the benches on the other side of the countertop.

Whoosh, I let out a sigh of relief. Now all I had to do was get through the next conversation without looking like a complete moron.

Good luck with that. I wanted to whimper.

I glanced up, everyone was still being nosey. I scowled at them. Do you mind, I thought. Jeeze, as if it wasn't hard enough having this conversation with one person, I didn't need an entire audience listening to it.

I was pretty darn proud of myself, everybody had stopped staring. Yes, who's yo mamma?

My glance returned back to Paul, he had his neck craned around looking at everyone in the living room. I could hear what sounded like a low growl emanating from him.

So much for me being the intimidating one.

"Paul," I said, causing him to turn around. "Do you want to come with me to buy some…" I glanced at Emily, about to pull carrots out of the fridge, "carrots?"

Emily must have heard because she shut the drawer, putting the little orange veggies back.

Paul watched my expression for a little bit before nodding.

I looked around the room in general, "This is my last trip to the store, does anyone want anything?" Male voices came from all directions, so I held up my index finger. "Sorry, I should have been more specific. Women do _you_ want anything?"

All the women in the room grinned, shaking their heads.

I smiled back, ignoring the whiny looking faces of the men. Sorry, but there was no way I had enough arms for all that they probably wanted.

I took a deep breath and followed Paul out the door.

Here goes nothing.

Neither of us said anything as we walked to… a truck.

"Is this your truck?" I asked.

Paul looked a little embarrassed, "Yah."

"I've never seen you with it before," I said, jumping in, because it was so high up.

He didn't say anything so I looked over.

I laughed, "Why are you turning red?"

He blushed harder. "I don't normally drive but…" he trailed off.

"But what?" I grinned, loving this moment for all it was worth.

He avoided looking at me, "but I wanted you to see that I'm every bit as human as the next guy."

I paused, what was I supposed to say to that?

"I like you the way you are," I said.

I could have murdered myself for saying that out loud. Why was I born this way?

There was no way I was going to look at Paul after I said that, I stared straight out the front window.

"I'm guessing we don't really need carrots?" he asked, I nodded.

"I'm also guessing you have a lot of questions?" I nodded again.

"Are you up for a walk on the beach?" he asked.

This time I glanced at him, he was frowning. "Sure."

Silently I was jumping up and down in little circles at the idea of not having to talk about such an intimate topic in a cramped space with lover boy here.

We didn't speak until we were out of the truck and halfway down the beach. "Okay, I'm ready. Ask a way."

I took a deep breath. "What did Seth mean when he said you were _my _werewolf?"

"Wow," he said, rubbing the back of his neck. "You really don't tip toe around, do you?"

I stopped walking, waiting for his answer.

He closed his eyes, wincing. "Before I tell you this, I want you to know that… well, I couldn't be happier."

Um, okay. That was a weird way to start a werewolfy conversation, especially when he was wincing.

"Have you have heard of imprinting?"

I thought about it then nodded, "Yah, like off of Fly Away Home, when the little goslings imprinted on the girl."

"Mhmm." He murmured, "Well, werewolves do the same thing."

"Get out," I shoved him. "Aww, that's adorable."

He tried smiling, but it looked more like a wincey smile. "Yah well, we don't imprint on… moms."

Okay?

"Dad's then?" I asked, confused. "Oh! Oh! Oh! Is that where the whole wolf trainer thing comes in?"

"Uh no," he groaned. "That's a completely different topic. Imprinting… well first off, we aren't born werewolves. It's only when danger comes to our home that we, uh become one."

He finally looked at me for the first time, I just stood there listening.

"I for instance, became a werewolf in my teens. So it's not like with the ducks, I didn't fall in love with the first person I saw."

"Oh," I mumbled. I was officially confused.

"Okay, back to who we imprint on." He started fidgeting, moving his weight from one foot to the other. "Like I said before, we don't imprint on parental figures… we imprint on our soul mates."

Huh.

You don't hear that every day.

"Um, well…wow" I stuttered. "Lucky you."

His eyebrows drew together. "It's more than that."

My eyes flew to his, of course there was more. I mean, mythical creatures that came to life couldn't be simple. What was I thinking?

"We don't know who they are, they could be sitting next to us for years in the same class and then suddenly we look them in the eyes for the first time since becoming a werewolf and we're hooked. They're our everything. Our reason for anything. Why we live, breath, function, you name it."

Damn, they should make that into a fairytale. Forget frickin prince charming. Haha, I want a werewolf.

"So I take it that's what all the werewolves' wives are?" I said, mentally connecting the dots.

"Yah," Paul said. "Actually Kim was the girl that sat next to Jared for years and he didn't notice her until he become a werewolf."

My eyebrows came together, "Wow, that must have sucked for her."

"What do you mean?" he asked.

I gave him a 'guys are so dense look'. "Nobody sits next to the same person for four years by coincidence; she must have been crushing on him for a long time."

"But isn't that a good thing," he rushed, "now they're together and she gets what she wants."

"Yah," I said himhawing. "But it must have hurt at first, knowing that he didn't care about you until he became a werewolf."

"What?" he started shaking. "Yah he was an ass for not noticing but she's his _world_ now. _Nothing_ matters beyond her, how can you say it's horrible for her?"

"Easily," I narrowed my eyes at his shaking. "He couldn't give her five minutes before he was a werewolf and now he expects her to love him regardless. That's about as selfish as you can get!"

"WHAT!" he flipped out, throwing his hands up in the air. "Are you insane? This is her soul mate, why should she care about the past?"

"Calm down," I yelled, putting my hands on my waist. "I refuse to talk to you while you're not under control."

My statement was met with silence.

It stayed that way for a good few minutes.

"Okay," he said, talking very very calmly. " I—"

I cut him off, knowing that there was a possibility of him losing his temper all over again.

"I never once said she shouldn't love him. A person has to feel uber sorry for themselves if they're willing to give up a once in life time opportunity. I mean how many people get to say they're married to their soul mate, especially in today's society."

I paused, but not long enough for him to say anything.

"All I'm saying, is that it must have hurt her at first. Wondering why he couldn't see the potential in her before he became a werewolf."

He didn't say anything.

I looked up into his eyes.

"Okay?" I asked.

He smiled, "Okay."

"Now, what were we talking about?"

He laughed nervously, running his hand through his hair. "We were talking about imprinting."

I laughed to, "Yah, I'm pretty sure I got that part."

He let his hands fall to his sides. "Now, back to your question."

My question? Oh my question. Uh, yah, I completely forgot what I had asked.

Paul interrupted my thoughts, saying, "I'm your werewolf because… you're my imprint."

Okay, now I remembered my question.


	15. Chapter 15

I'm sorry I haven't posted in a while but my roommate is um… *cough* weird. Let's just say have you ever heard someone trying to sing "Come Sail Away" by Styx, while laughing… yah, she's gifted. Any who, I hope you like this chapter.

**Chapter 15:**

Wow.

And um…

Wow.

I was Paul's soul mate. Hmm.

He was staring at me, watching my every movement. I looked right back, but of course I was off in la-la land trying to figure things out.

I was –_am_ Paul's soul mate. His imprint.

_His_ imprint.

He was _my _werewolf.

Wow.

I kept going around in circles, the same thoughts never leaving my mind. I wanted to think of something epic to say, to make this moment special for him. It's just that the only word that kept coming to my head was… wow.

Way to motivate the obsessed stalker in me Paul. Atta boy, I groaned.

Paul's eyebrows drew closer together and he visibly winced.

Aww, he looked so pitiful. I wanted to hug him.

So for the first time, in all of my short obsessive fan life span, I let myself finally give in to the physical.

I hugged him.

He wasn't expecting it, he actually stiffened a little. I'd like to pretend it was because he thought I was going to hit him.

So I did pretend that, as I wrapped my one arm around his neck and the other around his shoulder.

I figured if anyone needed to give him a hug, it would be me right? I mean, who else would a werewolf want a hug from, if not their imprint?

Oh my gosh, the freaky fan in me was crying in pure joy.

It took him a minute to figure out what I was doing, but then he hugged me back. By hug, I mean he squeezed me. For a minute, I thought I was going to die, so I pulled a hair on the back of his neck.

"Jeeze Paul," I teased. "You just got me, don't kill me."

If it was possible, I think he squeezed me harder before lessening his grip.

He still didn't say anything. He was probably paranoid that I'd run away from him, screaming.

I smiled, how in the hell had our roles reversed so much? Just yesterday I was the one fearing the idea of saying or doing something to make him put a restraining order out on me, and now he's the one afraid of… of what, me not liking him?

Haha, what a crazy idea.

"Paul," I asked, trying to push away from him so I could see his face. Yah that wasn't happening, his grip on me was not letting go. I shrugged, resting my head between his shoulder and neck instead.

"Paul," I continued. "What are you expecting?"

"What do you mean?" he replied, his arms around me stiffening, but regardless, I knew this had to be out in the open.

I paused, wanting to limit my questions, so he wasn't too overwhelmed.

"How did you expect me to react? What are your expectations for me?" I wasn't about to say, 'and us.' I hadn't completely let my ecstatic fan tongue loose to say whatever.

"Well," he said, I could feel the vibration of his voice next to my ear… it felt good. "Usually in the past, none of the girls have taken the news this good. Well," he chuckled, "except for Kim, she was downright ecstatic."

I was off on cloud nine. On my top ten mental stalker's 'I love Paul list' I had down, hug him while he's laughing.

Did chuckling count?

Oh boy did it ever in my mind!

I could feel his chest shaking as we held each other, and I fell in love with him all over again.

I'm such an oversized dork.

"As for you," he went on. "I was hoping that you'd let me play an important role in your life."

An important role? Was that some sort of code for boyfriend? The other women became wives, so why didn't Paul just come out and say that?

Paul started to shiver, saying "I could be a brother figure, a best friend… anything you want."

My mind was going a thousand miles a minute, what did he mean 'anything you want'? Hell, if it was up to me, I'd already be engaged.

Was his imprinting different than the others, did he just want to be friends?

Oh my gosh… he didn't find me attractive.

I closed my eyes, rolling my forehead to rest on his shoulder. How could I have been so stupid, to expect the same things as everyone else?

His shaking was getting worse, distracting me from my thoughts.

"Why are you shaking?" I asked, befuddled because we hadn't been talking about anything to get him angry.

"It's nothing," he said, grinding his teeth.

"Obviously it's not 'nothing'." I said, trying to pull out of his arms again.

"It's fine," he said, pulling me closer to him, still shaking.

I was getting worried, which was not okay, especially if it was Paul I was worried about. I smacked his shoulder.

"Hello, calm down," I said, "and tell me what's wrong."

"I… I," he stuttered. "I think it's about time we headed back."

I didn't really get a choice in the matter because he held my hand tight, pulling me along behind him.

Now it was my turn to get angry. He can't just cut off the conversation. Not in the middle of something as important as fricken WEREWOLF business!

He opened the truck door, easily tossing me up on the seat. He was walking to the other side of the truck, when my brilliant idea struck.

I locked the doors.

He stopped next to his door, glancing up at me in surprise.

He just stood there, obviously he was waiting for me to unlock the door. Instead, I grabbed the keys out of the ignition and waved them in front of his face through the window.

His eyes narrowed, "Open the door Talliah."

I quirked an eyebrow at him, "Sure, just as soon as you tell me what made you go all mini earthquake on me back there?"

"We don't have time for this," he ground his teeth.

I narrowed my eyes, "I'm making the time."

"Talliah," he sighed, "just open the door."

Aww, he actually thought I was going to listen.

"Sure," I smiled, "just as soon as you get to answering my question."

"Damn it," he barked. "Just forget it, I don't care."

He made a fist and pulled back, I knew he was about to break the window.

"Um, I wouldn't do that," I said, moving my index finger, back and forth, in a tisking motion.

He stopped, "Why?"

"Because the shattered glass will cut me," I said as if talking to a five year old.

He turned blanched.

"Fine," he said, walking to one of the back windows. "I'll just break the back one."

That was easily fixable, I jumped in the backseat.

His hand was an inch away from the glass when it came to a screeching halt. "Damn it Talliah, move your ass back to the front seat!"

Good idea, I put my legs in the front seat, that way his super werewolf skills couldn't beat me back to the front. Now, either way, I would get cut by glass.

Wow, I was getting to be very masochistic.

"Why," I asked dumbly. "That would bring me back to square one? I like it where I am, square two is nice and cozy."

He stared at me for a few minutes, probably waiting for me to change my mind.

I stared back, mind still unchanged.

He glared.

I purposefully winced.

He stopped glaring.

I smiled.

He ran his hands through his hair and down his face. "Please Talli," he said, "just open the door."

I looked at him, really wanting to, but knowing I had to stick to my guns.

I decided to mimic him. "Please Paul," I said, "just give me your reason."

He scowled, "Open the DOOR!'

I gave him an 'are you serious look', "Hello?" I said, "Why would I open the door to someone who's yelling at me?"

He took in a deep breath of air, turned around, then walked back. "Just open the door."

I looked blankly back at him.

He started mumbling unintelligible words. I ignored him, saying, "Just tell me already."

He didn't bother looking at me.

It felt like forever had passed by before I heard Paul say, "It's getting cold out."

I laughed out loud. "Are you seriously trying to pull that card out?"

He gave me an annoyed look. "I'm not worried about myself. Look," he said pointing at me though the window. "You're holding your arms together shivering."

I looked down.

Huh, I really was.

Looking back up, I said, "Uhuh, and you know how to fix that don't you?"

"Yah," he said trying the handle to the door. "Let me in to give you my jacket."

I raised an eyebrow, if I really wanted warmth I could just turn the heat on. "No thanks, I'm holding out for your answer."

"Fine," he said with a sullen expression. "At least turn the heat on for yourself."

Dang, I was really hoping he would have forgotten about the keys. Oh well, I guess I had to give him one of my aces.

"Sorry Buckwheat, but I'm freezing myself so that you'll have motivation to answer my question sooner rather than later."

"WHAT!!" he yelled through the window.

I nodded.

He was starting to tremble again.

"Talliah," he said, enunciating every syllable. "Put the keys in the ignition and start the car!"

I looked him in the eye and shrugged.

He was really starting to shake now, almost as bad as when I had seen him phase into a werewolf for the first time.

"Tall –"

"Paul!" somebody else's voice barked.

I swiveled my head around to look out the back window. It was Quil.

That didn't matter, I told myself. I was sticking to my guns no matter how many werewolves showed up.

"Calm down," Quil said, walking over to stand next to Paul. "What's going on?"

He looked from a shaking Paul, to me lounging in the truck, then laughed. "And here I thought Talli would have been one of the calmer ones."

Paul growled, "She took the news fine." He glared at me through the window.

I smiled, waving at Quil. "Hey Quil, I hope Emily ate without us."

Quil looked confused, glancing over at Paul. "Uh yah, that's actually why I'm here, we were starting to get worried that you guys had been out so long."

"Well we would have been back on time if Talliah hadn't locked herself in the DAMN VEHICLE!"

I glared at Paul, "Well you know how to fix that, now don't you?"

He scowled at me.

I scowled back.

"Woah," Quil said, "I'm completely confused. Why else would you lock yourself in the truck, if not because you found out you're his imprint?"

"Honestly Quil," I said, shaking my head. "Imprinting isn't the only thing I'm curious about. You guys are freakin _werewolves_ for crying out loud! "

He looked amused, "What else do you want to know?"

I looked at Paul, "Why Paul was shaking earlier when we were talking."

He glanced at Paul, "That seems simple enough."

"No it's not," growled Paul.

I growled back, "Yes it is."

"It's because he was angry," stated Quil as if he were Einstein.

I scowled, "How dense do you think I am?"

The smile wiped off of his face, "what do you mean?"

"I mean," I said sarcastically. "I know he was angry, I want to know WHY!"

"Oh," Quil murmured.

I glanced back at Paul. He was still shaking, but it looked more like an annoyed shiver than an 'I'm so angry I'm about to burst' shiver.

"Why can't you just tell me?" I asked, "It can't be _that_ big of a deal."

He threw his hands up in the air, hollering, "Because has it ever crossed your mind that I have to share secrets with the entire PACK! So maybe, _just once_, I'd like to have a little privacy when it comes to OTHER PEOPLE!"

Silence.

I sat there dumbfounded by his little rant.

He was right of course.

I was just another person.

I mean yah, I'm his imprint… but really what did that mean? He felt protective of me? He wanted me to live a happy life? That didn't mean he had to trust me. It didn't mean he wanted me to return his feelings.

I sat there flabbergasted.

My heart fought, saying that he had to love me because all of the other imprints married their werewolves.

My mind argued back, explaining that he did love me but he didn't trust me.

I looked down in my hands at the keys.

I wasn't like the other imprints, I couldn't marry knowing that I was loved but not trusted.

What am I even talking about marriage for? I couldn't date someone who didn't even trust me?

What was love without trust?

I hit the door 'unlock button' on the keys.

I had made my decision.

"_Finally_," Paul growled, opening the driver's door, as Quil walked around to the passenger side.

I handed him the keys without looking at him.

I could feel his eyes on me.

"Talliah –" he started to say.

"I'm cold," I said, looking out my window, where his face had once been. "Will you turn up the heat?"

A few seconds later I heard the heater come on.

But I knew nothing could melt the ice that was starting to form on my heart.


	16. Chapter 16

A big thank you to all my story's readers that review. I appreciate everything you have to say… haha, well at least so far! This chapter is kind of intense, but it has to be if I want it to be realistic and progress. The story will get happier, I swear or maybe... anyways, I hope you like it.

**Chapter 16:**

The drive back was tense. I sat quietly in the back, contemplating what I was going to do about my future.

Paul tried talking to me a few times, I replied simply yes or no. He seemed to get annoyed by my answers, like I knew he would, and left the rest of the conversation up to Quil.

Fine by me.

Quil was doing a good job anyways, I added a few words here and there when it was required of me, but no more.

When we got to the house, Paul opened the backdoor for me on his side, but I was already climbing out on Quil's side.

His eyes narrowed, I ignored him.

When I opened the door to the house, all eyes were on me. Would there ever be a time when they weren't?

Ugh, I searched for Ana.

There she was, the one scowling in the corner. I didn't care, I walked over to her, sitting down on the end of the sofa.

I heard Paul and Quil follow behind me, but I didn't bother turning around.

"Are you hungry?" Emily asked from the kitchen.

I looked up, forcing a smile to my lips, "No thank you."

I could tell Paul was about to say something because he started to scowl at me, but Ana interrupted him. "Must have been all those carrots you ate," the sarcasm was dripping from her every word. "After all, I didn't see you bring any in. Luckily though, Emily found some in the bottom of the fridge."

I wanted nothing more than to close my eyes and rub my temple. I really didn't need this right now.

I could feel everyone's eyes still on me.

I could walk away, that's what I wanted to do. My other option was to stay and fight in front of everyone.

Oh, what to do?

"Nope Ana," I said, swiveling my head in her direction. "We never made it to the store. Paul and I ended up getting in an argument half way there and I locked him out of the truck."

Silence.

Ana's eyes bulged, giving me the response I was hoping for.

"Good," she said very quietly. There was no doubt of the anger that was stirring below the surface. "Then you won't mind if we leave. I'm getting tired."

Liar.

But I didn't care, I needed to get away from Paul, if only for the night. I knew there was bound to be an argument between Ana and myself but to be honest… it was the lesser of the two complications in my life right not.

"Sure," I stood up, I heard someone growl.

I ignored Paul.

"Sorry about dinner," I said to Emily, walking towards the door.

Paul was standing in front of it with his arms crossed over his chest.

I passed Jacob's chair, about to tell Paul to move. I could care less about what hissy fit he was going to throw now.

Instead I stopped in my tracks, Ana bumped into my back.

There was no way.

"What did you stop for?" Ana pushed my back, but I just stood there staring like an idiot.

"How old are your parents?" I asked the girl on Jacob's lap.

Paul growl again, moving closer to my side.

The girl smiled, "I heard you met them." She chuckled looking at Paul, who was now standing right next to me.

"I did," I murmured. "Otherwise, I wouldn't be as surprised to see you."

Ana poked me in the back. It hurt.

She probably thought I was being rude.

"They're…" she glanced at Ana, "young looking for their age, are they not?"

I nodded, that was one hell of an understatement. When I had seen the little girl in the family portrait on the hospital's reception counter, I never would have imagined that she was now full grown.

I looked pass her to see Jacob grinning, which was weird because everyone else seemed pensive.

My heart's nuisance was grumbling next to me.

I lightly elbowed Paul, "It's rude not to introduce people."

He tensed, not saying anything.

"Paul," I stated, glaring at him for emphasis.

His voice was rough. "Talliah," he trembled, "this is Nessie, Jacob's… wife."

"Just Talli," I said, shaking her hand.

Nessie was grinning, "Wow," she turned her head a little, but still looked at me. "You were right Jake, I never would have thought it possible."

He chuckled from behind her. I smiled, "I wouldn't be chuckling if I were you."

Jacob froze, "why."

I smiled an evil smile, "Because now that I know who your wife is, we can plot manner lessons for you."

He blanched while Nessie laughed, instantly making me like her.

"Yes," she smiled, "we'll definantly have to get together to do that."

Paul grabbed my arm, shaking.

Ana poked me again.

Before I could think twice I turned around and took a step back. "Stop!" I said, glaring at both of them, not really knowing which one my anger was aimed more at.

They both looked stunned.

"Honestly people," I muttered, turning back to look at Nessie. "Sorry about that, but seriously," I smiled, "it was great meeting you."

She was grinning, "It was _great_ meeting you as well."

I smiled.

Turning around I pushed between Ana and Paul. "Sorry about dinner Emily," I said.

"It's okay," she assured me.

I did a short wave in Kim and Claire's direction before I opened the door, pulling my hood over my head since it was now raining.

The door behind me shut, so I knew Ana was following.

I rolled my eyes at the irony of the situation, only Ana could compete with the stormy weather.

I sat in the car, flipping my hood back, as Ana stormed out to the car.

Slamming the door she yelled, "How dare you freakin yell at me like I'm a two year old in front of them!"

"The same reason you kept giving my back bruises in there," I said calmly.

"A poke is different than YELLING AT SOMEONE!" she screamed.

"You're right," I nodded. "One is physical abuse and the other is verbal."

"DON'T GIVE ME THAT SHIT!" she screamed, "YOU STEPPED WAY OUT OF PLACE TODAY!"

I rubbed my temple, looking out the window. Now we were at the crux of the problem.

"And where exactly is my place Ana?" I asked.

She slammed on the brakes, propelling our bodies forward.

"You know where you're place is! Just like you've known every time you've over stepped your boundaries!"

My boundaries?

"I wasn't aware I had boundaries."

"Don't give me that," she sneered. "You've known since I met you how I feel about Paul and yet all you've done since we've gotten here is thrown yourself at him!"

My mouth dropped open.

"Are you serious?" I asked, in complete astonishment.

"Oh don't try to play all innocent!" she scoffed, starting to drive again.

Now I was starting to get angry. As if I asked for any of this! I didn't ask for a werewolf, who just happens to be a celebrity in a famous band, who just happens to also be my best friend's girl crush, to frickin imprint on me! It's not as if I woke up one day and said, 'huh, I think I'll make my life more complicated today. What the hell, why not, there's nothing else to do!'

"I hope you know that it only makes you look like a little gold digger to him," Ana sneered.

THAT'S IT!

I slammed my hands down on the dashboard.

"Who in the hell do you think you are? Talking to me like that?" I asked.

"The same person I've always been. I'M NOT THE ONE'S WHO CHANGED!" she screamed.

It was true, I had changed… but only in her eyes. I've never competed with her for anything; we've never wanted the same things. So I probably did look different to her as I stood with my own team's jersey on fighting for Paul. Usually I'm standing next to her, the both of us wearing the same colored jersey, rooting for the same team... her's.

"Ana," I said, my temper gone now that I'd figured out what her problem was. "I haven't changed, it's just that you've never given me your undivided attention until now… now when Paul is involved."

"That's BS and you know it!" she interrupted. "I've ALWAYS been there for you, and now you're trying to act like I'm NEVER THERE FOR YOU!"

Breathe in … breathe out. I can handle this, she's dramatic, but I've always known that so can handle this.

"Ana," I went on. "I'm not saying you've never been there for me, you've always been there for me. You just never come unless it's absolutely necessary. You just never give me center stage, unless there's no other choice."

"NO I –" she tried to cut me off, but I kept talking. She forgot that I've seen her argue and know her tactics.

"Yes you have." I corrected. "What I don't understand is why you have a problem, when I specifically told you I liked him."

"BECAUSE!" she yelled. "YOU WEREN'T SUPPOSED TO STAY!"

The light dawned on me.

"YOU WERE SUPPOSED TO HOP ON YOUR STUPID ASS PLANE AND GO BACK HOME! BUT DID YOU? NO! INSTEAD YOU HAD TO RAIN ON _MY_ PARADE, GETTING IN ON _MY _ACTION!"

I felt our friendship fading, as she ranted on and on. I wanted to find the strength to save it… but didn't know if I really could.

I looked out the window as she stopped the car in front of the motel.

"So you never cared how I felt about Paul," I whispered. "As long as you were the one to get him in the end?"

She looked at me like I was an idiot. "How stupid are you? Of course I didn't give a rip if you liked him, you'd get over him, just like any other girl with a stupid school girl crush."

I closed my eyes. So this is what our friendship had come to.

"What do you want me to do Ana," I asked. "It's not like I can just stop liking him."

She rolled her eyes, "Oh please, you've liked him for what? Two minutes of your life."

I tensed. "That's not the point," I restrained myself from yelling. "The point is that I like him. Imagine me asking you to turn your hypothetical 'like button' off."

"I wouldn't," she sneered.

"Exactly," I replied. "I would never ask that of you."

"No," she mocked, "you wouldn't. YOU WOULD JUST GO OUT LOOKING FOR THE GUY I LIKED AND HOOK UP WITH HIM!"

I flinched, knowing that that was the truth as she saw it. She'd never understand that it was something more powerful that brought Paul and I together. She couldn't see that her life would only be miserable if she married Paul. That she'd be in love with his image and he'd be forced by fate to care more strongly about another woman.

But I couldn't tell her that.

She wouldn't believe me.

"Ana please," I begged. "Just try to understand that it's nothing like that."

"Yes it is!" she yelled. "I'm not stupid. I didn't see carrots in either of your guys' hands. All I saw was your flushed cheeks and his trembling. And don't give me that bull about him shaking because he's angry shit!"

Seriously?

I mean seriously!

Of all the expressions she could have read, she had to see my flushed face and his trembling? She couldn't see me purposefully ignoring him or his scowls in my direction. No, she had to see the only things that could possibly be misconstrued.

It's not like I could say, 'oh I was dying of frostbite to prove a point so when the heat was finally turned on I had blood circulating, which coincidental made my cheeks flush'. Nor could I say, 'Paul does to shake when he gets angry, because he turns in to, oh I don't know a… WEREWOLF!'

"Ana," I pleaded, using the only card I had left. "Even reading the situation as you did, do you really think I'm capable of purposefully hurting you?"

She shook her head, "Quit trying to play the victim."

I felt the tears forming in my eyes, I distracted myself by getting out of the car.

Was I really so untrustworthy? Could no one trust me?

Closing my eyes, I felt the cold air on my face and let it seep into my skin. I wanted to run, I could feel the urge inside to escape, but I didn't. Opening my eyes, I could see how dark it was getting, and that was dangerous for runners anywhere, especially in a strange place.

Instead I did a light sprint to the front door of the motel. I immediately started packing up my things the moment I entered the room.

A few minutes later I heard Ana come in. "I'm glad you've decided to leave," she said as if we had never argued. "I knew you wouldn't break our friendship after so long."

My hands stilled and I looked up from what I was doing. My face was devoid of all emotion, surprising because Ana was one of the few people I ever let in.

I didn't think she'd notice, being so self absorbed and all, but I saw her tense.

"I'm not leaving town Ana," I said tonelessly, "I'm leaving you."

Her mouth gaped at me.

I ignored her, continuing to pack.

It took her a few minutes, but she started fuming again. "What do you mean?" She yelled, "Doesn't our friendship mean anything to you?"

My only thoughts were how the end to our friendship would make such a dramatic scene on film. I glanced at Ana, she really could command an audience.

But I was one person who was no longer going to be buying tickets to her performances.

I zipped up the outside compartment of my luggage bag before I said, "Of course it meant something to me, it still does. But our relationship, isn't something I have to earn, I already have it. You expect me to do so much for you but you can't even trust me?"

I shook my head, pulling my luggage off of the bed.

"I love you Ana and I'll always be here for you," I stated. "It's just, now I know you can't be there for me."

I was halfway through the door when she yelled, "I can't believe you're throwing our entire friendship away because of some guy!"

I kept walking.

When I reached the entrance to the motel, I passed the nosey motel owner who was clearly dying to know what was going on.

I ignored her.

When I stepped into the cold night air, there was never really any doubt in my mind that he would be there.

He was supposed to be there at times like this, wasn't he? To try and make me feel happy.

Grabbing the luggage out of my hands, he threw it into the back while I got into his truck.

I wanted to smile because the heater was on and I knew he must have turned it on just for me, if all the vents pointing in my direction were any indication.

He got in, giving me a long glance, then pulled out of the drive way. I could see Mrs. Dits' nose poking out of the window.

Paul didn't say anything.

I didn't talk either.

We were about a mile out of town when he pulled the truck over. I didn't ask why, I already knew.

We looked at each other.

He pulled me towards him and I curled up in his lap.

Then I balled my heart out as he held me.


	17. Chapter 17

I love how as my story progresses, my readers have so many more comments to share with me. It really makes my day. Thanks you guys, for making my writing worthwhile.

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**Chapter 17:**

I cried for what seemed like forever.

Paul was there, holding me the entire time. He kept trailing his hands up and down my back. It felt good and it gave me something to focus on, other than my dilapidated friendship.

I closed my eyes, listening to Paul's steady heartbeat next to my ear. It was reassuring to know that I had someone who would always be there for me; especially as I lost the one person I had never thought would leave.

I could feel the sadness leaving my body as I matched my breathing with Paul's. Slowly I could feel myself calming down.

My eyes were starting to hurt from all my salty tears.

I didn't care.

I sniffed, no longer crying. It felt good to be wrapped in his warmth. His body was a heater that mine just naturally gravitated towards. I was probably in the most uncomfortable position imaginable, but I felt so snug.

He didn't say anything, and I liked it that way. It gave me time to sort out all my scattered thoughts. I didn't want to have to worry about answering questions when I wasn't even sure if I had the answers.

I moved my head a little, so that my forehead was touching his chin. I could feel his five o'clock shadow scraping my skin, but it didn't bother me. I liked it.

I sniffed again.

Paul didn't have to wear cologne, the natural woodsy scent that emitted off of him intoxicated me all on its own.

I sighed. I couldn't stay quiet forever.

"Thank you," I said, not bothering to move from my comfy cozy spot.

"I'd like to say, 'any time'," he replied. I could feel his chin moving against my forehead, "but I don't ever want to see you like that again."

I smiled slightly at the sincerity of his words.

"Darn," I said. "I was really hoping for a repeat soon."

He tensed for a minute, as if wanting to say something, but then relaxed.

"No repeats," he said huskily.

I about swooned when I heard how deep his voice went.

Then my eyes popped open and I pulled back from his chest.

"Wait," I said, "Where am I going to stay?"

He looked worried up until he heard what I had to say, then he rolled his eyes.

"That's what you're worried about?" he smiled, "Who you're going to stay with?"

"Yes, that's what I'm worried about," I narrowed my eyes at his lack of priorities. "I don't want to intrude on anyone."

He threw his head back and laughed.

"It's not funny," I scowled, even though I was trying not to drool over his exposed throat.

"Do you have any idea how long I've been waiting for you?" he said, grabbing a piece of my hair and smoothing out the end of it. "I think anyone of them would give their right leg, if that meant you'd finally stay with us."

"Why," I asked, choosing to ignore his first comment so that I wouldn't die of pure pleasure on the spot.

He dropped my strand of hair, "Because I need to know you're safe and happy all the time and let's just say that when I don't… well I get a little cranky."

I forced a smile. Yes, of course he had to make sure I was nearby, so he could check in on me every now and then to ensure I was happy at all times.

What a bitch of a situation. I'm head over heels in love with a guy that loves me completely, just not in the sexual way.

You can't make this stuff up.

"Fine," I shrugged, "Who's house am I going to?"

He hesitated, my eyebrow rose. "What aren't you telling me?"

"You could stay with me," he said it more like a question.

I leaned further back in total shock.

BEEEEEEEEEEP!!!!!!!!

A loud blaring noise came from behind me. I didn't have time to think my actions through.

I propelled myself forward, crashing in Paul's arms scared out of my mind.

My heart was racing as my mind registered the fact that my back must have hit against the steering wheel, effectively jarring the horn.

I was panting when I noticed Paul shaking, but this time it wasn't out of anger.

The big sexy jerk was laughing his ass off at me.

I smacked him.

He ignored me, holding his gut instead.

"You know," I said sarcastically, "A real man wouldn't laugh."

He kept laughing.

I made to get off of his lap but he grabbed me.

"I'll stop laughing," he said with the biggest grin on his face that I had ever seen. "I promise."

I rolled my eyes, not persuaded in the least.

"You could at least try to be convincing," I stated.

"It'd be pointless," he started playing with my hair again. "You know that everything you do amuses me."

"It's great to be of service," I teased.

He smiled, placing a strand of my hair behind my ear.

"I want you to stay with me."

My stomach muscles tensed at his serious expression. How do you tell the man that you want to live with for the rest of your life that you can't live with him?

Didn't he know that I wouldn't have the strength to constantly fight off my impulses of wanting to jump on him and make out? That I would be in agony everyday that I lived with him, knowing I was so close to him and yet so far away.

No thank you, I'm not a glutton for that intense of a punishment.

So instead of coming right out and hurting his feelings, I went the tactful way.

"I think Claire or Kim would be put out if I didn't stay with them," I said, looking the entire time, over his shoulder.

"Nah," he said, "they'd have cared if I hadn't imprinted on you, but now that I have, they know you belong with me."

Great, now what was I supposed to say?

"I know," I said, "but it's been an unsaid understanding that we were all going to have a girls' night before I leave."

I saw his shoulder stiffen. At least I had successfully changed the topic.

"When are you leaving?" he said, very quietly.

I looked in his eyes and was surprised to see so much hurt.

I winced, "Paul –"

"When are you leaving?"

I took in a deep breath and let it out. "In two days."

His arms tightened around me, and the pain in his eyes was nothing like it had been just a minute ago.

He pulled me to him, burrowing his face in my neck. "Please don't go."

My heart broke in two at hearing his plea.

"Paul –"

"Don't leave. Just, please don't." I could feel his breath on my neck, when he said every word.

Forget my heart breaking, this was soul shattering.

I wrapped my arms around Paul, combing my fingers through his hair. How had the situation gone from Paul comforting me, to me trying to comfort him?

"I can always come back," I stated.

His only response was a whimper.

I tightened my hold on him. All I wanted to do was make everything better for him.

I only knew one way of even slightly taking away some of his pain.

"You know what? Maybe I should stay with you," I said, rubbing his back in comfort. "It's probably way too late to wake everyone else up and… well all around it would just be easier staying with you."

He stayed quiet, but I could feel his breath on my neck.

How could I be turned on by a man's breath? Especially when I was supposed to be comforting him. I groaned, I was a lost cause.

"Are you okay?" he asked, pulling me away from him to look at my face.

"Uh, yah," I fibbed, "I'm just a little tired."

I could see the worry on his face, it came hand in hand with his pain. I felt horrible for being the one to put it there.

"We should get going then," he said, lifting me off of him.

Paul had already placed me right next to him, before I started breathing again.

He had just touched my butt.

Albeit it was because he was lifting me up, but still, he touched my butt.

His hand on my butt!

I looked out of my peripheral vision to see if he had noticed.

No reaction, he just started the truck. Meanwhile, I was inwardly panting and trying to convince myself not to drool.

I just realized the heat wasn't on but it was warm and toasty. It forced me to ask a question that's been on the tip of my tongue for a while.

"What are the side effects of being a werewolf?"

Paul smirked and put his arm on the back of my seat. I wanted to move towards him so he could more easily wrap his arm around me, but I didn't know if he wanted the same thing.

Instead I sat in my own little bubble for the rest of the ride, listening to him explain the ins and outs of what being a werewolf entails.

We were pulling into the drive way when I asked, "So why do you guys become werewolves? You told me that it was because of danger but what could possibly warrant the need for werewolves?"

I saw a slight shiver constrict his muscles as he turned the ignition off. I tried not to notice how his muscles rippled, but rather focused on being concerned.

Paul looked out the window before turning his head in my direction. "We aren't the only mythological creatures come to life."

That caught my attention, forcing me to sit up to better see his face.

"But you have to know, that it doesn't matter what it is, I'll always be here to protect you," he looked into my eyes, determined.

I smiled reassuringly.

"Werewolves were made to kill vampires."

No friggin way.

"You have got to be joking," I said, no longer sitting on the seat but kneeling.

"Yah," he snarled, "the bloodsuckers are real and it's our job the make them go extinct."

"That's so creepy," I said looking out the windows and shifting a little closer to Paul.

I was thankful when he grabbed my waist and pulled me closer to him.

"Like I said, you never have to worry," he smiled. "I'll protect you."

Mhmm, but who will protect my heart from you buster?

I sighed, I was going to die wanting him.

He must have taken my sigh as a yawn because he opened his door to get out. I felt kind of childish for a moment because I was slightly terrified of a vampire getting to me if I got out on my side.

No worries though because Paul's hand was still on my waist and he grabbed me to get out with him.

I stuck to him like glue as we walked towards his house. It was too dark to really see the outside of it, I suddenly found myself impatient for the morning so I could see it more clearly.

The door wasn't locked, so Paul turned the door knob then let me go in first.

When he turned the lights on, I was aghast by the beauty of my surroundings. It was so open, the wall of windows across from us only added to it. Usually I was afraid of windows, to many scary movies with creepers looking through might have added to that, but somehow I wasn't afraid. I'd like to think that it was because I had finally outgrown my silly mentality but I knew it had more to do with the hunky werewolf standing behind me.

I turned looking at everything, it definantly looked like a bachelor pad. There wasn't a girly thing anywhere. I was secretly pleased at the observation.

When I glanced at Paul, he was already staring at me.

"Do you like it?" he asked.

I smiled, "I love it. It's just so open."

He grinned, "I built it."

My eyes popped in shock and my mouth hung open. "You're lying?"

He grinned, "Nope."

I surveyed my surroundings again. "Paul this is… this is amazing."

"I'm glad you like it," he said, looking deeply into my eyes.

I averted my eyes, not wanting him to see the longing I had to live in his home and be his wife.

"How many bedrooms do you have?" I asked, trying not to imagine our children running around.

"Five," he said, putting his hand on my lower back. "And of course the master's suite," he bent down to whisper in my ear.

I closed my eyes and shivered.

Forcing useless thoughts out of my head, I asked, "Which room is mine?"

"It's this way," he used his hand on my back to propel me forward. We walked down a long hallway and at the end were two doors. He opened one and motioned for me to follow him in.

I halted my steps, shooting my eyes up to his. He was watching me, as if studying my expression.

"This looks like," I cleared my throat. "This looks like the master suite."

He smiled, his eyes never leaving my face. "It is."

I stood stock still at his words.

"The other rooms aren't furbished, so you can stay in my room. I'll make my bed somewhere else tonight and tomorrow."

I nodded, suddenly wishing I wouldn't be alone in this room tonight.

He was regarding my expression, so I smiled, "Thank you." I knew it would be pointless to say that I could sleep on the couch, he'd ignore my protests.

"I'll bring in your luggage," Paul said, heading for the door. I felt the absence of his presence the moment he left the room.

Walking over to the bed, I sat down feeling the urge to start crying all over again. It was cruel irony that I'd be sleeping in Paul's bed tonight alone.

I had gained my composure by the time Paul walked back into the room carrying my bags.

"Here's your stuff. The bathroom is in there," he pointed in the direction to the right of him. "You know where the kitchen is if you get hungry or thirsty in the middle of the night."

I nodded.

"Just say my name if you need anything tonight," he tapped his ear. "I have great hearing," he smiled.

"Thanks," I replied.

He turned to leave the room.

"Paul?" I asked.

He turned around to look at me.

Um… great, now what?

Uh.

"Sweet dreams," I said like a total dorkfish.

He grinned, "You too and don't worry, there won't be any wolves keeping you up tonight." Then he left me alone.

I didn't give myself a chance to lose myself in thought. I kept busy, getting ready for bed.

When I finally fell into bed, I was exhausted. I was beyond ready to go to sleep.

But even though I knew the wolves' howling wouldn't wake me, I knew the scent of one lingering on the pillows would keep me up for hours.


	18. Chapter 18

Seriously this is my escape, thanks to all of those who support my writing addiction!

**Chapter 18:**

It took me ages to fall asleep and when I finally did, it felt like two minutes had passed before I woke up again, viciously aware that I was alone.

I was tempted many times to get up in the middle of the night and go find Paul. I had my entire lame excuses of sleep walking or being scared planned out. I'd run up to him, claiming to have had a nightmare and needing his company. He'd hurriedly grab me into his arms and my life would make sense again.

Not really, I was way too much of a chicken to pull anything that dramatic off, nor could I do it realistically, no matter how much I tried.

So, instead I was in this huge bed alone, and no matter where I turned I could smell Paul's intoxicating scent.

I turned my head, groaning into the pillow. It was pointless to try and fall back to sleep, there was just no way that I was going to. I was surprised I got half as much sleep as I did, knowing the entire time that I was rooms away from an unconscious Paul.

Pulling myself out of bed, I went to the bathroom and got dressed for my morning jog.

I was trying to close the door to my room as quietly as possible when a voice said, "What are you doing?"

I jumped, crashing into the door and causing a sharp pain to run up my arm.

"Damn it," I whispered, glaring up at the most gorgeous creature to ever walk the Earth's surface. "How many times have I told you not to do that?"

He grinned, pulling me to him and rubbing my shoulder with his hand. "But it's so much fun to startle you."

I didn't know whether to groan in ecstasy at his touch or narrow my eyes to pretend annoyance. I decided on the latter, this way nobody would ask questions.

"Really Paul," I asked, "can't you find a healthier way of getting your kicks and giggles? Maybe a way that doesn't include a premature heart attack with me in mind?"

I didn't wait for his answer as I walked down the hallway, towards the kitchen. Now that is was sunny out, I could appreciate Paul's handy work from an entirely new perspective. The entire house was just made up of the most perfect angles.

"Wow Paul," I said. "This really is breath taking; I love everything about how you built this house."

I glanced at him, he was grinning from ear to ear.

I rolled my eyes; of course he would be proud. I really didn't blame him, his work was brilliant.

"If I had to design my own house, this would be exactly what I had in mind. Maybe you could build me a replica of this someday," I murmured more to myself than to him.

When he didn't answer, I glanced up to see him with his eyes closed and shivering.

What in the hell could he possibly be angry about in that statement?

"Now what did I say?" I asked, leaning up against the kitchen's island. "I was giving you, what I thought was a compliment."

His eyes popped open to scowl at me. "I'm not going to make another house like this one. It's one of a kind."

I threw my hands up in the air, "Okay, wow, I was just making a friendly observation. It's not like I threw blueprints at you."

His skin rippled, "I made this house for _my _future family, not another man's family."

If he wanted to stab me in the heart… well he was successful. How many different ways could he make it obvious that he didn't want me?

I was just the girl he happened to imprint on, not the one he wanted to spend the rest of his life devoted to.

Running my hands through my hair, I turned for the doorway.

"Where are you going?" he asked from behind me.

"A run," I said, opening the door.

I had already stretched in the bedroom, so as soon as my feet hit the ground, I took off. I didn't really know where I was going, but if I stuck to the main roads, I'm sure I wouldn't get lost.

I set my pace slow at first, fighting the urge to run full throttle to get the pain from Paul's statement out of my system.

Why was I still here?

All Paul needed to know was that I was safe; I could call him every day from home to tell him that.

Home.

Home didn't sound like the right word for my house any more. I cringed at my corniness, but home is where the heart is and my heart is clearly wherever Paul is.

I closed my eyes, imagining how my life would be if I had to see Paul with another woman up until the day that I died.

My eyes popped open, there was no way. I couldn't visualize it. I didn't want to visualize it. The pain was just too intense.

I picked up my pace, punishing my heart for falling in love with the wrong guy.

I tried looking at my position from another angle. Was this just some little crush, like Ana said, but I was throwing it all out of proportion? Maybe I didn't really have feelings for him.

HA, next theory!

I spent the next twenty minutes, arguing with myself about what was wrong with me. In the end I was left with the same questions I had as when I started.

I stopped running when I hit the end of Paul's driveway, deciding to stretch out my legs and walk the rest of the way.

I was so lost in thought that I didn't realize another vehicle was parked in the driveway, until I practically ran right into it. I recognized it immediately as Kim's, which caused an instant smile to appear on my face. Kim was the perfect person to make me laugh with all her witty sarcasm.

Opening the door, the delicious scent of bacon teased my nostrils.

"Mmm good?" I exaggerated. "What is that smell?"

I could see Claire at the stove cooking, while Kim sat at the table reading a magazine. Jared and Quil were in the living room watching something on TV.

"You're right on time," Claire said, "I'm making breakfast."

I smiled, "It smells delicious. Do I have time for a shower before we eat?"

"Noooo," groaned Quil, "We're starving."

"Go chase a cat then," Kim commented.

Quil glared, about to say something before I cut him off. "Where's Paul?" I asked.

In unison all four of them said, "Outside."

I looked out the window, "I didn't see him."

"Trust me," Kim flipped a page in the magazine she was reading, "he's definantly out there."

I raised an eyebrow at her tone of voice. "Oh well, I was a little preoccupied. I didn't even notice the truck until I almost barreled into it."

"Hurry up and take your shower," Quil whined. "I don't want to have to wait for another hour."

I rolled my eyes, walking towards the bedroom.

As if he couldn't last an hour. He and probably the entire rest of the pack had enough food reserves to last them a life time. Nonetheless, I hurried with my shower. My tummy was rumbling by the time I stepped out into the freezing cold air.

Brrr! I thought, jumping into my clothes as fast as possible. I was still shaking by the time I finished. Okay, I was officially freezing. I looked around the room, tempted to go into Paul's closet and grab a spare sweater.

I knew I shouldn't though. I mean, doesn't that just reek of being a creeper or at the very least, invasive?

I walked towards the door, stopping mid step. You know, if Paul was really concerned about my safety, doesn't being warm enough to exist fall under that category?

My eyes kept dotting back and forth between the closet door and the room's door. Ugh!

"KIM!" I yelled, since I knew Claire was cooking.

Two seconds later the door was swung fiercely open, slamming against the hallway wall.

"What's wrong?" Paul asked, his eyes looked wildly about the room.

I thought he was outside?

"Uh," I uttered, shocked to see him. "Where's Kim?"

Paul's eyes finally settled on me, "Why did you yell? Are you okay?" He swiftly strided over to me.

"I..uh," I said, running my fingers through my hair and suddenly remembered why I had called for Kim. My hair was freezing, and my fingers felt numb running through the strands.

"I'm cold and I was going to ask her if you would mind me barrowing a sweatshirt or something. I hadn't realized you were back in the house." I said as fast as possible.

When he didn't say anything I went on, "It's just most of my clothes are dirty and the only jacket I really brought with me, smells like the bonfire. It didn't really matter to me before because I was using Ana's… and well, I'm not anymore. I completely understand if you say—"

"You yelled for a sweatshirt?" he articulated slowly.

"Well it's cold in here," I said defensively, running my hands up and down my arms. "Not all of us can be hot blooded."

He grinned, pulling me towards him. I didn't resist, his hands were like heating pads on my freezing cold skin. My eyes almost rolled to the back of my head when he started rubbing my arms and back with his hands.

"You'll be the death of me," he said, pulling back. I was about to ask why but was distracted by him pulling his shirt over his head.

I sat down on the bed.

My mind thought one thing, and one thing only—scrumptious!

He stood there, half naked… in his bed room… with me. My mind wondered.

"My shirt will be warmer," he said, pulling it over my head like a mother would do with her two year old. "It's not a sweater, but with my size and my body heat, it might as well be."

I nodded, truly mystified by how my eyes had yet to go blind by such stunning beauty.

"Better?" he asked, lifting my chin up with his knuckle.

"Much," I murmured.

He smiled and kissed my forehead.

Okay, pinch me. I had to be in heaven.

Paul just kissed me.

I don't care how many times I've been kissed before, no other kiss compared to this one. Forget all the passionate kisses from mere boyfriends or crushes, Paul's surpassed them all. It didn't even matter that it was on the forehead and not the lips. It didn't even matter that Paul did it purely platonically. To me, it was the best kiss in the universe, forget the frickin Wesley and Buttercup kiss off of Princess Bride… mine was WAY BETTER!

I think my eyes must have gone cross eyed, because I couldn't see anything but stars.

I barely noticed as Paul grabbed my arm and dragged me down the hallway to the kitchen.

We were right on the cusp of entire the kitchen, when I tugged with my arm. At first Paul ignored me but I tugged again to get his attention. When he finally did turn around, I could just imagine what he saw. I was blushing so badly, I probably looked like a radish.

He quirked an eyebrow.

"Don't you think you should put a shirt on?" I said breathlessly.

He looked confused, "Why?"

Why? Why? WHY?

Uh, maybe because it's hard enough not salivating when you're fully clothed, if I had to be around you half naked all day… I shivered… my mouth would be a waterfall.

I couldn't tell him that though. "Because it's impolite," I whispered, not sure of whom I was trying to convince.

He gave me a skeptical look then shrugged, "Okay."

I watched him walk back to his room before I swiftly brought my hand up to touch my forehead. Was I just imagining it or was it still warm from his kiss?

I would have rolled my eyes at myself, but I was to preoccupied knowing that Paul had just kissed me.

I didn't want to be caught rubbing my forehead in bliss like some freak, so I forced myself to go into the kitchen.

Everything seemed normal, but inside I was bursting with joy. How could everyone be so oblivious?

PAUL JUST KISSED ME!

This time I really did roll my eyes at myself. I flumped into the chair next to Kim and threw my head into my hands, careful not to smear the kiss. I was getting really out of control. I groaned; this was so unhealthy.

"What's wrong?" asked Kim, putting down her magazine.

I looked up through the spaces between my fingers, "Later," I stated.

She grinned, "I bet I already know."

I blushed as she looked over my head at, who I assumed was Paul, walking back from the bedroom.

"Oh yah," she giggled, "I know." Then she looked down at my shirt and grinned, "Nice shirt."

I groaned again.

"Leave her alone," Claire said, coming to my rescue.

"Yah," I piped up, just because I had nothing better to say.

"Can we eat now?" complained Quil with Jared standing behind him for moral support.

I laughed, "You guys are hopeless."

They both narrowed their eyes at me. I laughed again.

Kim and I helped Claire get the food ready as the guys put the extra leaf into the table. When we went to sit down, I couldn't help but notice how everyone unconsciously sat next to their imprint or werewolf. I thought it was endearing until I remember that it meant I too, had to sit next to a man that was way to good looking for his own good.

I paid attention to most of the conversation, waning off here and there to think about the gorgeous hunk of meat that was sitting right next to me.

It was during one of these spacing out moments that my thoughts meandered to the topic of imprints. I still really felt bad for Kim. I mean I'm happy that she's happy now, but my heart ached for the girl that must have hurt awhile back.

I glanced at Jared. He seemed all right. He wasn't as muscular as Paul nor as tall or… well I'm biased. I analyzed him from a different angle; I tried to imagine myself in love with him. Trying to figure out the appeal that a youthful Kim would hunger for.

He didn't toot my horn, but it wasn't hard to see where he would toot Kim's. Honestly, all these werewolf men were the epitome of what all men should be. I kind of felt bad for the rest of the male species… well accept for Dr. Cullen, I grinned. Oh yes, he was a looker.

"Why are you smiling like that at my husband?" Kim said, her eyebrow was raised.

It took me a minute to realize she was talking to me and that the entire table of people was looking at me. Paul in particular was digging holes into my skin with his stare.

I blushed.

"I was thinking about imprinting," I said, hoping that would explain it.

It obviously didn't because they all kept staring at me. Great, how do I save myself now?

"Uh," I said lamely. I noticed Paul's muscles in his arm ripple and the way his hands were fisted on the table.

I ignored him, my own humiliation was more important than his self inflicted temper tantrums.

Kim grinned, "Go on."

I narrowed my eyes at her sarcasm. "If you must know, I was contemplating what you liked about Jared before he became a werewolf. I mean it must have been a huge change once he became one, right?"

"Yes?" Kim answered it like a question.

Silence.

Oh, they were still expecting me to talk.

"Well, he must have been all pimply and teenagish," I went on, and Jared looked like he was actually blushing. I felt sympathetic to the poor guy; it wasn't fair that I was only picking on him.

"Or Quil even," I said, glancing at Claire. "I mean what was it like for you when you first saw Quil after the change?"

Again silence.

"Hmm, great question," Claire said. "I really don't remember."

I rolled my eyes, "Please give me a break. I've known these guys for two minutes and even I know they're out of comparison with the average male."

All of the grins by the males at the table weren't lost on me.

I noticed Paul's hands were no longer fisted. I was proud of myself for restraining from using my flicking powers.

"Well," Claire started fidgeting in her seat. "I had a different kind of imprint with Quil, than um, Kim."

I averted my eyes to Paul, who was currently lounging with his arm on the back of my chair. "I thought you said all the guys changed when they were teenagers?"

"We do," he confirmed, "but that doesn't mean our imprints are teenagers when we meet them. Look at you, I didn't meet you until you were...?"

"Older," I smiled.

He grinned, grabbing a strand of my hair and twirling it.

I almost lost track of what was being said, I was completely absorbed in Paul's grin.

Almost.

"So then when did you end up meeting him?" I asked Claire.

She looked nervously at the people around the table. I was confused.

"I met Claire when she was two," Quil said from the end of the table.

Okay.

"But when did you two imprint?" I asked to clarify things.

There was silence. Jeeze, I was just asking a simple –

"WHAT!"

I could feel my entire face stretch in surprise.

Paul stopped twirling my hair and sat up straight. "It's not what –"

"So wait," I said, holding my hand up to interrupt Paul. "Are you telling me that Quil," I used my head to point at Quil, "met you when he was a teenager and you were TWO!"

Claire winced, "Yes but –"

I interrupted Claire this time, asking Quil, "But aren't you the same age as Paul?"

"Yah, but it –"

I cut Quil off, turning to Paul.

"Just how _old _are you?"


	19. Chapter 19

**Chapter 19:**

Paul tensed.

Kim threw her hands on top of the table, "Of all the questions you could have asked, you're most concerned with Paul's age?"

I ignored her, "How old are you?"

His arms started rippling.

"Seriously," Kim went on, "aren't you even the teeny tiniest bit curious about Quil and Claire?"

"Shut up Kim," Quil snapped.

"Don't tell her to –"

I cut Jared off. "Um excuse me," I glared at everyone at the table, before turning back to Paul expectantly.

There was a slight pause, during which Paul and I just stared at one another.

Finally he said, "I'm older," mimicking my reply from earlier.

I did the math, rounding. If Paul was a teenager when Claire was a toddler and now she was, I'm assuming my age. That would make him…

"Oh my gosh," I put my hands to my face.

"It really isn't that big of a deal," Quil said, Paul was shaking worse now.

"You didn't freak out about us being werewolves but you freak out about our age?" Jared questioned.

I started laughing, everyone at the table looked at me like I was losing my mind.

I think I was.

"What's so funny?" Claire asked.

Kim replied, "I'm loving this."

I couldn't believe this. My life was…

I laughed. It was either that or cry.

I shook my head back and forth. This was just priceless. I was in love with a werewolf, forget the famous musician part, who just happens to be twice my age. This wouldn't be a problem, if he didn't treat me like he would a child.

I groaned.

To him, I was a kid he had to keep safe.

I closed my eyes, I _so_ did not think of Paul as a _father_ figure.

I wanted to bang my head against the table. Paul thought of me as his _daughter_!

Pushing that thought out of my mind, I opened my eyes, a sarcastic smile on my lips.

"Wonders never seize," I stated, longing for what I knew I could never have.

"You're so surprising," Jared said, looking at me confused.

I shrugged, finally glancing at Paul again. He was shaking, his hands back to being fisted.

"Oh stop," I said, pushing his arm a little. "How did you expect me to react when I find out you're as old as my –"

Frig!

I jumped up from my seat. "Where's your phone?" I asked, running to where I thought I saw it earlier.

Paul was already out of his seat, standing behind me by the time I started dialing the numbers.

On the first ring, Todd picked up. "Dang girl, I thought you had died! You're never this late to work."

I played with my hair, looking up at Paul in guilt.

"Ah Todd," I paused, trying to figure out what to say. "I'm still in Washington."

There was silence coming from the other end of the line. I leaned back on the phone stand, rubbing my forehead with my hand.

"You're in Washington?" Todd asked dumbly.

I nodded, before I realized he couldn't see. "Uh yes," I said like a total dingleberry.

"I thought you were coming back today," he sounded as if he was whining, which, knowing him, he probably was.

I looked at Paul, he was still standing next to me. I could feel the heat radiating from off of his skin.

I shivered, he moved a step closer to me.

I smiled into the phone, "I'm so sorry Todd, I had originally planned on being back today but there was this huge complication and well… now I'm not leaving until tomorrow."

He didn't say anything and I felt like the most horrible person on the planet.

"Was it a problem with your flight?" he asked.

I grimaced, he wasn't even close.

"No," I said, shifting from one leg to the other.

"I see," he said, not seeing anything at all. "When should I expect you at work then?"

I wanted to close my eyes and lean my forehead on Paul's chest, instead I sighed, "In two days."

"Are you sure you don't want to come home earlier?" he wheedled.

I could see Paul starting to get edgy.

"I'm sure," I said into the phone. "Don't worry, I'll take you out to eat when I get back as an apology."

"Fine," Todd huffed, as Paul stood like a stone statue beside me.

I sighed; the two men in my life were both making me feel way too guilty.

"I'll see you, for sure this time, in a few days," I said before hanging up the phone.

I peeked up at Paul, he didn't look to happy.

"Look," I said, staring over his shoulder. "I know you're not happy about how I reacted or even that I'm leaving, I wish I could change it… but well, I can't."

"Yes you can," he argued.

I turned my eyes on him, "No I can't," I reiterated.

"Yes you can," he growled back.

"Stop it," I said, starting to feel the strain of the last few days. "You're making me feel really guilty and I've done nothing wrong." I couldn't help it if my voice squeaked a little, I felt like crying.

The scowl on his face was replaced with concern as he grabbed my hand, pulling me towards him for a warm embrace.

"I didn't mean to upset you," he whispered, wrapping his arms around me.

I nodded. Wishing that I could stay here in this beautiful house with the man I love, for the rest of my life.

I was in the perfect position to kiss his jaw. It took all my effort not to.

"I can't believe she isn't even slightly interested in your story," I heard Kim comment in disbelief to either Quil or Claire.

I rolled my eyes, was she still going on about that? I ignored her, instead focusing on the heady smell that was Paul.

"You know," I heard Kim yell from the table area; "you can't sniff him all day. At some point you'll have to come back and ask some more questions."

I blushed, pulling back from Paul.

Paul growled.

He was probably annoyed that Kim wanted me to keep asking questions. No worries though, I was sick of finding out information that would puncture holes into my heart.

"I think I'm going to start on the dishes," I said to no one in particular.

"I'll help," Claire bounced up out of her chair, a scowling Kim following her into the kitchen area, with dirty dishes.

We were about half way done with the dishes when Seth came barreling inside the house.

"Hey all," he said to everyone before spotting the men watching television.

"The food is already gone," I teased Seth.

He pouted at me before turning to the guys. "Sam needs us."

Kim stopped drying her plate, placing it on the counter with a small bang.

Jared made his way over to Kim, "Don't worry babe, it's nothing like that."

I saw Claire's shoulders sag and I wondered for a moment what both women were thinking just a minute ago.

I'd get it out of them later, I told myself, continuing to wash the dishes.

It didn't escape my attention that Jared and Quil were saying their little goodbyes to Kim and Quil.

I was pea green with envy.

Well, at least until Paul came over and kissed my forehead again. "I'll see you tonight," he said before following the others out the door.

I stood in the same spot, giddy like a teenager, staring as the door closed behind him.

If I were a cartoon, there would be definite stars popping out of my eyes.

"Aww," Kim smiled, swatting my arm, "you are so in love with Paul."

My perfect little moment came crashing down. "You're ruining the moment," I glared.

"Testy, testy," Kim wagged her finger back and forth. "Have you two kissed yet?"

I stilled, "It's not like that between us."

Kim snorted, "Did you hear that Claire?"

Claire nodded, grabbing a bench on the other side of the counter to sit down on.

"I'm serious," I said. "Paul and I don't have that kind of relationship."

"You're his imprint," Claire said, as if that explained everything.

I waited for her to finish her sentence, but that must have been it.

"Uh, I'm pretty aware of that little fact," I sighed. If it wasn't for that crappy little piece of information, I'd be living the high life; still in my own delusional world filled with all sorts of possibilities of Paul returning my affection.

Kim tapped her fingers on the counter. "So why don't you just kiss him silly?" Kim smirked, "I went berserk kissing Jared when I found out."

I huffed, "I've already told you, it's not like that between us."

Kim looked skeptical, raising an eyebrow.

"Then what is it like?" Claire asked.

I tensed, not really wanting to talk about this. I didn't feel the need to air all my hurt feelings out in the open, but they both looked genuinely concerned.

"Fine," I said, throwing the dish rag into the sink and walking over to lean on the counter. "Our relationship isn't really— well it's not at all a sexual one." I paused. "Paul's more of a father figure, he looks at me like he would a daughter."

There was a few seconds of silence before they both burst out laughing.

"OH MY GOSH, DID YOU _HEAR_ THAT!" Kim laughed, holding her gut.

"I did, I did," laughed Claire, trying to cover her face.

As if I couldn't see her laughing her ass off.

I wanted to stomp my foot. They were laughing at my pain, exactly what I didn't want.

"Jeeze don't be so sympathetic," I said sarcastically, returning to the sink area.

"Oh my gosh, oh my gosh," Kim said in between breaths. "Hold on a minute" laugh "let me" laugh "catch my" laugh "breath".

I ignored her, scrubbing the hell out of the poor cup I was washing. Would it kill them to be a little understanding?

Claire was the first to stop laughing. I scowled at her, causing her to blush.

"We weren't laughing at you Talli," Claire said, "we were laughing at the pure impossibility of Paul wanting to be a father figure to you."

"Whatever," I huffed, choosing to pretend that the fork I was washing was so much more fascinating than the conversation at hand.

Kim wasn't laughing as hard when she said, "Come on Talli, you can't really believe that Paul thinks of you as his kid."

I shot an annoyed glance at her as I started letting the water out of the sink.

"How can you think that?" Kim said in astonishment, "The sexual tension in the room when you guys walk in—" She stopped talking and shivered. She grabbed the neck of her shirt collar to fan herself. "Let's just say that even _I'm_ turned on."

I blushed, I was getting turned on just thinking about being turned on.

I closed my eyes, leaning back against the counter. "Trust me you guys, that sexual frustration is all one sided."

"How can you say that," Claire gasped, walking around the counter towards me. "Paul is obsessed with everything about you. He couldn't even let you go jogging by yourself; he had to follow to make sure you were okay."

I opened my eyes at this interesting little tidbit, but still, it only confirmed what I already knew.

I smiled half heartedly, "That's just it, he's obsessed with my safety. He doesn't want me to get hurt." I shrugged, "I understand that he loves me and wants to keep me safe. I've come to accept that that's all I'll ever get from him."

"Ugh," Kim slammed her hands down on the counter top. "You can be so obtuse sometimes. Hello! Paul _imprinted_ on you!"

I narrowed my eyes, feeling defensive. "I know that," I said, straightening by back, "that's why he cares so much about my safety to begin with."

Kim gave me a look as if to say I was stupid, then she turned to Claire throwing her hands up into the air. "You need to talk some sense into her."

Licking her lips and holding her hands up as if to calm a wild beast, Claire said, "Talli, I of anyone know what it's like to have an imprint feel fatherly feelings towards me. Quil felt that way in the very beginning of our relationship."

"Yah, yah," Kim said pointing at Claire as if what she just said was equivalent to walking on the moon.

I rolled my eyes, replying, "Exactly, so you should know that some werewolves have fatherly feelings and others have husbandly feelings. Paul isn't one of the husbandly feeling types."

"Let me finish," Claire said.

"Yah, let her finish," Kim repeated.

"Like I was saying," Claire gave Kim a sharp glare to shut her up. "Quil had intense love for me like a father does, but that was only in the beginning of our relationship. At some point, when I was old enough to reciprocate a loving relationship, Quil's loved turned from that of fatherly affection to one of husbandly affection."

"See," Kim said, as if everything was settled.

I shook my head, "No I don't see."

"What!" Kim whined. "You're purposefully trying to be impossible aren't you?"

I ignored her, looking at Claire. "Everything you're saying would make perfect sense, if Paul hadn't already made it clear, many times, that he's not interested in anything but a platonic relationship with me."

"What?" both girls said simultaneously.

I nodded. "Sorry to burst your bubbles, but…" I shrugged.

Even though I was putting on a façade of not caring, on the inside, I wanted to curl up into the fetal position and die of sadness.

"Something's wrong," Claire said, shaking her head. "It doesn't make sense."

"I agree with Claire," Kim said, crossing her arms. "You two need to have a talk and really communicate to one another about what's going on."

"Ha! Yah right," I said sarcastically, if Paul knew how I felt...he'd probably feel bad about hurting my feelings.

The last thing I wanted was for Paul to pity me.

"I appreciate that you guys are trying to help me out here," I maintained my cool façade, trying not to choke up, "but honestly if I have to hear him say one more time that he doesn't want me in his life like that. I—"

I stopped talking, trying to hold back the sudden rush of tears.

"I just," I looked out the window, trying to take in calming breaths.

"I just won't be able to take it," I murmured.

There was a tense silence, until Kim broke it by saying, "That ass."

I looked up, stunned by the anger on her face.

"And here I thought he was getting better with you around," I was about to interrupt, but she kept talking. "But NO, now he's only an ass to you. I tell you what, I'm giving Jared hell for this!"

"Why would you punish Jared?" Claire asked before I could.

"Why wouldn't I?" Kim asked. "He knows what's going on in Paul's mind just as much as Paul does." She looked at me, "He shouldn't be letting Talli suffer."

Although I thought it was a kind thought on Kim's part, my mind blanked at the idea of the entire pack knowing about my foolish little crush that wasn't returned by Paul.

"No," I said, loud and clear. "You are not to tell Jared one iota of this, do you hear me?" I looked at Claire, "and you can't tell Quil."

They both looked a little leery about it.

"DAMN IT!" I yelled, "This is my life and if I say I don't want any other parties involved. _Then I don't want any other parties involved_!"

"Fine." – "Fine." They both said.

I huffed, "Good."

There was silence for a few minutes as we all soaked in our first argument as friends.

I was just happy that I didn't have to worry about Paul finding out. The relief that went through me was of gigantic proportions.

All was back to being safe in my little misguided world of emotions.


	20. Chapter 20

Hi all! Although I didn't get as many reviews as I have in previous chapters, I did get reviews that were much longer and way more in-depth. So I'm just as happy with that turn out. Thank you to everyone that takes the time to review. I greatly appreciate it! As always, I hope you enjoy this chapter.

* * *

**Chapter 20:**

The silence didn't last long, pretty soon we got to talking about something or other and we were back to gabbing away.

We were in the middle of an intense discussion about the eating habits of the men, when the phone rang. I got up to answer it without a second thought. It was only as I was saying, "Hello," that I realized that Paul probably wouldn't appreciate me answering his phone for him.

I should have just let it ring.

"Hey," came my dream man's voice from the other end.

I suddenly loved that I decided to answer the phone.

"Oh hi," I replied, lacking anything better to say. "I hope you don't mind me answering your phone."

There was a slight silence before he said, "I don't care if you answer my phone."

"Good," I smiled into the phone, turning my back to the table where Kim and Claire were sitting and watching me. "Now do you mind if I place some long distance calls to Taiwan?"

He chuckled into my ear. "I never pictured you falling for the Asian type," he teased back.

I blushed; nope Asian was definitely not my thing. I was more into hot, steamy, famous singing, werewolves.

But I was not going to tell him that.

"So," I prolonged the O's. "What'd you call here for?" I said, trying to change the subject.

"I just wanted to hear your voice," it sounded like he whispered in my ear.

That statement would have been so sexy, if I didn't know that Paul was serious because he wanted to make sure I was safe.

It didn't matter; I pretended that he was flirting with me anyways.

"What are you girls doing?" he asked.

"Um, nothing really. Just talking about, you know, the usual."

He groaned. "Why do I get the feeling that it's more than that?"

I laughed, "It must be those werewolf powers kicking in. Maybe you have one the others don't know about yet."

"Kind of like a sixth sense?" I could hear the grin in his voice.

I smiled, "Well you do see dead people."

There was a slight pause before I had to pull the phone away from my ear because Paul was roaring with laughter.

"What's so funny," I heard a male voice ask in the background. He didn't find out though, because Paul couldn't stop laughing.

I was smiling because his laughter made me happy.

I heard a new voice ask, "What?" I recognized it immediately as Seth whining. "Tell me what was so funny."

Paul was still chuckling madly when I heard someone say, "Grab the phone."

This statement was followed by an intense growl that even had me shivering a little.

"Talliah?" I heard Paul say my name.

"Yup," I replied. "I'm still here."

"Sorry about that," he said huskily.

"No prob." I could still hear Seth and some other guy complaining in the background.

"I'll try to be back soon," he said. The thought made me smile.

"Okay," I replied. "See you then."

I hung up, grinning into the phone. When I turned around, two pairs of curious eyes were staring at me.

"Oh he is so _not_ a father figure to you," Kim grinned.

I rolled my eyes.

"The guys will be back soon," I said, ignoring Kim.

"So we figured," replied Kim, standing up at the same time as Claire.

"We better get a head start on cooking, they'll be ravenous once they get here," stated Claire.

"Ugh," Kim stretched, "I hate cooking."

Claire rolled her eyes, "What are you talking about? You're as bad as the men, mooching off of other people for food."

Kim glared, "At least I give everyone money to cook for me." She sniffed, "Besides, I'm more pleasant to be around."

I laughed.

Kim narrowed her eyes at me.

I pretended to be coughing.

"That's what I thought," she said, sticking her nose into the air, as if she were queen.

My mind leapt to the idea that Kim was a less theatrical version of Ana.

I was expecting some form of pain or sorrow to follow that thought. So I was extremely surprised when none did. I almost felt guilty that I wasn't sad over losing Ana. I mean I was horribly sad, but that was it. I was expecting something to rival the pain of yesterday night but I was sorely mistaken.

"Did you guys lose a close friend when you imprinted?" I asked aloud.

"I didn't," said Claire. "My best friend was always Quil, since I grew up with him."

I looked over at Kim.

It was one of the few times I'd ever seen her blush. "Um," she murmured. "I was really a loner in high school."

I smiled, remembering what Paul had told me.

"Oh," I said. "Never mind then, I guess."

"No," Claire said, grabbing some pans out of the cabinets. "Tell us what's on your mind. That's what we girls are here for."

I thought about it for a minute.

"Well," I started off, not knowing exactly what to say. "Well, um… hmm, okay."

"Just spit it out," Kim said, taking food out of the refrigerator.

"Fine," I said. "Ana has had a crush on Paul since… well forever. She thinks I'm putting Paul before her, but she doesn't know that it's not exactly something I can stop from happening. I mean, I feel horrible because she's my best friend but… well I'm Paul's imprint."

They both paused what they were doing.

"So that's why you got into a fight with Ana?" Claire asked.

I nodded, "What had you thought we had gotten into a fight over?"

"Psh," Kim said sarcastically, "With Ana, who knows."

I stiffened.

"Sorry," Kim winced. "That was low, I know you really like her."

I relaxed, Kim didn't mean to come off as rude. Ha ha, even though half the time she was.

"I think the best person to talk to about this would be Emily," said Claire.

Kim glanced at Claire, "Are you sure about that?"

"Yah," Claire nodded. "Emily knows firsthand what it's like to put the best friend as second."

I winced, listening to them say it like that, made me sound like the most terrible person on the planet. I didn't mean to put Ana as second but when it got right down to it, I was.

"Why? Did Emily have a best friend that liked Sam?" I asked.

Kim and Claire shared a hurried glance. My curiosity was effectively piquet.

I was about to ask when the men came barging through the door.

"Dinner's not done?" Jared pouted.

I smiled. "We've decided to go on a liquid fast," I stated.

Jared, Quil and Paul all paused to look at me with an array of horrified expressions.

Quil turned to look at Claire, "You wouldn't really do that to me would you?"

"Awe," she said, walking around the counter to hug him. "I'd never make you do that," she said petting his back, in comfort.

Jared looked hopeful as Kim went to kiss him. All hope was dashed though, when she said, "I would, so don't make me angry."

I thought I heard him whimper, which caused me to smile.

"That wasn't even remotely funny," Paul said, grabbing a strand of my hair and rubbing it between his fingers.

I smiled, suddenly feeling the tension in my body that I didn't know I had, leave.

"Ah come on," I wheedled, "you know it was a little, teensy, weensy bit funny."

"Never," he grinned.

I smiled.

"So what _is_ for dinner?" Jared said, glaring in my direction.

I laughed on the inside.

"Pork chops, mashed potatoes, pasta, green beans and of course salad," Claire ticked off with her fingers.

I licked my lips in hungry anticipation. One thing I could say about Washington, I'd never starve here.

I glanced up at Paul and noticed that he was staring at my chin.

"What?" I asked, bringing my hand up to wipe my chin. "Is there something on my chin?"

"Uh," he cleared his throat, looking anywhere but at me. I scrubbed my chin harder.

"Uh, no," he said. "There's nothing on your chin."

I nodded, relieved that I had gotten whatever it was off. I went to glare at the girls for not telling me earlier, but when I turned everyone was grinning at me, including Quil and Jared.

I blushed. "What?"

Jared was about to say something, but Kim elbowed him. "Oh nothing," she grinned.

I raised an eyebrow.

"Let's finish cooking," Claire said, pulling out of Quil's arms.

"Yah, about that," Kim said. "Maybe I should keep an eye on the guys, just to make sure they don't get into any mischief."

Everybody rolled their eyes at that one. Why did everyone act like cooking was such a hassle? It was actually quite a stress reliever for me.

"Don't you men ever cook?" I asked, rounding around the counter as I made my way into the kitchen.

When I glimpsed over my shoulder, three pairs of male eyes were as big as saucers.

"I take that as a 'no'," I said.

"Make her stop saying these things," whispered Quil, in a not so quiet voice.

"First fasting, now we might have to start cooking for ourselves…" Jared shuddered, "I can't handle it."

Paul didn't comment, instead he looked at me with the deepest, chocolaty brown, puppy dog eyes.

I burst out laughing.

"That's actually not such a bad idea," commented Kim, causing Jared to whimper again and me to start a whole new round of laughter.

The next time I looked at Paul, he was watching me with a goofy smile on his face.

I blushed, realizing that I was doing my screechy laugh.

I hurried to help Claire with the rest of the dinner. I needed the distraction so I wasn't constantly bombarded with images of a smiling Paul.

My concentration would slip every now and then, causing me to look up in the direction that I knew Paul was in.

I'd see him looking at me and then I'd hide my face, blushing like a teenager under the mistletoe.

By the time dinner was actually on the table, I thought my cheeks were permanently stained red.

We all sat in the same spots that we sat in this morning. My hands were itching to grab Paul's face and just kiss his lips right off of him.

I resisted.

Instead, I said grace and went about eating my food in silence.

"You're always so quiet when we eat," Paul said, interrupting my thoughts.

I shrugged., "It's a built in mechanism to keep people from choking," I said.

"What?" everyone, around the table, said in unison.

I smiled. "I've noticed that whenever I talk around the dinner table with you people, one of you always ends up choking."

Paul smiled, "That was before you knew our secrets. Now you know better than to ask questions we have to be careful about answering."

Hmm.

"I take it that there's no wolf trainer then?"

Paul grinned, "Not unless you consider Sam our trainer."

I laughed. "Wow, I'm suddenly so embarrassed by all the questions I asked before."

"Don't be," he said, putting his arm up on the back of my chair.

I love it when he does that.

Speaking of love…

"So I take it that werewolves are sterile?" I asked.

Jared started choking on the food in his mouth.

"See," I said, throwing my hands up in the air.

Quil reached over, pounding Jared on the back. "What did you expect when you ask a question like that?"

I felt perplexed. "An answer," I said.

They all just stared at me, Kim especially was grinning.

"Well what," I said defensively. "None of you have children and evidently you've all been together long enough to… well to procreate."

I glanced at Paul who was just looking at me in amazement.

"It was a reasonable assumption." I said, crossing my arms, like a petulant child.

"Uh, yes," Claire said. "I mean yes, as in it was a reasonable assumption. But no, as in werewolves are not... um –"

"The men can have kids," Kim took off where Claire was hesitating.

"Oh," I said in confusion. "Then why –"

"It's kind of a mutual agreement that no one would have kids until the last werewolf imprints," Paul said.

"Why?" I asked.

Quil chuckled, "That way we don't have to deal with that big age gap like we did this time around."

I was still confused. "What?"

"When I became a werewolf I was in my late teens," Paul said, grabbing all of my attention. "But at around the same time other werewolves were popping up that were only 13 or in their preteens. It was hell, young boys in an adult body. They were so confused –"

"And basically," Kim said, "we've all agreed that we don't want that kind of hardship on our boys."

"Oh," I said.

"But now that I can have pups of my own," Kim slapped her hands together, rubbing them. "I can't wait to get to work."

Jared grinned at her.

"It must be agonizing, the wait," I said to the women. Secretly envying that they could have children with their werewolves. For half a second I actually thought that what Kim and Claire had said about Paul loving me was true. Why else would he have to wait until he imprinted? But then it dawn on me that, Paul was probably assuming that he'd fall in love with his imprint to, and he did, just not in the way that we both had expected.

I sighed, "At least you guys only have to wait for one more imprint."

All eyes turned to me.

"What are you talking about?" Kim asked, "Everyone has already imprinted."

Quil laughed, "Heck, the day Paul imprinted… I think everyone –"

"QUIL!" Claire yelled, effectively shutting her husband up.

I blushed, everyone at the table knew where he was going with his little rant.

"You're thinking of Leah?" Paul said it like a question, so I nodded.

He rubbed his jaw. "We had all agreed to wait, but she's adamant that she doesn't want us to wait for her."

I could feel my brows pull together in confusion.

"You see," Paul went on, "Leah is the only woman werewolf that any of us have ever heard of, we don't even know if it's possible for her to imprint."

I immediately felt the deepest kind of sympathy for her. The poor girl, first she had to turn into the only girl werewolf, listening to what I knew had to be very lewd thoughts all the time from the guys… and now she couldn't even imprint.

What a horrible existence.

To go through life watching all those around you find happiness and fit in, while even amongst the freaks, you're the odd one out. I felt like crying for the poor girl. What hell for her.

Paul rubbed my shoulder, in comfort. He must have known how I was feeling.

"The poor girl," I stated.

"Leah doesn't want your pity," Jared declared.

I narrowed my eyes at him, "It's not pity that I have for Leah, Jared. It's pure one-hundred percent human decency. Nobody should have to go through life feeling so out of place and alone."

The room fell silent as I finished my sentence.

After a few moments, I realized that I had slightly over reacted.

I sighed, rubbing my forehead. The lives of the werewolves were… complicated if nothing else. I decided a little happy human element was called for.

I smiled at the girls, "Have you at least picked any names out for the babies?"

They both immediately squealed 'YES' at the same time. What followed was an hour long discussion of baby names that didn't end until we were finished with the dishes and they were forced to get ready to leave by their husbands.

I was genuinely happy, but found myself smiling through a headache. I had to leave this wonderful place tomorrow, filled with these wonderful people, who were going to have wonderful children, with wonderful names and I just felt like the most selfish person on the planet because the entire time they were hashing out baby names, I was writhing in self-pity, angry that I couldn't pick out baby names or contemplate what my children would look like right along with them.

My head was pounding as they shuffled out the door to leave.

Paul grabbed my elbow, pulling me towards him. "I'm going outside with them for a minute to discuss our patrol tonight." He placed a piece of my hair behind my ear. "Maybe you should take a shower and get a head start to bed, you look beat."

Normally I would have been mortally embarrassed had someone that I like so much, pretty much tell me I wasn't looking good. Somehow though, with Paul, it didn't feel bad, it felt genuine and I loved that he understood me so well.

I smiled. "Okay," then with a kiss from him on my forehead, I headed off to get ready for bed.

The hot water, from the shower, as it touched my skin felt heavenly. I took my time, soaking in the pure bliss that was relaxation. After stepping out, I went about my regular routine of putting on lotion and brushing my teeth.

I decided on wearing my comfy pajamas tonight. I needed my headache to go away, and the best way for that to happen was to be comfy cozy.

I was walking out of the bathroom when I saw Paul sitting on the bed.

My heart leapt in my chest.

What was he doing in here?

"Paul?" I said his name, confused.

He looked up at me, with an expression that I had only seen once before on his face, the first time that I saw him. At the fundraiser.

He quickly strode over to me, until I had to look up to see his face staring back at mine.

"Wh—"

He cut me off, cupping my face with both hands as he lowered his face to mine. I could feel his breath on my skin as his lips touched mine.

I was in heaven, as he kissed me. His tongue skimming my bottom lip, asking my mouth to open up.

Who was I to deny him?

What started out as a sweet and gentle kiss of his mouth persuading mine to kiss back, flourished into one of passion and hunger. My hands wrapped around his neck of their own accord, pulling his mouth closer to mine, wanting to feel the heat of his mouth on mine.

I could hear pounding in my head, as my heart accelerated.

I moaned out loud as he pulled away from my mouth, gulping in deep breaths of air.

I was staring deep into his eyes when he said, "Does that feel like a father's love?"


	21. Chapter 21

Sorry it took so long to update, but hey, at least I didn't make you wait an entire month! Anyways, I hope you like this next chapter. Also, I will not be updating for another week or two after this, so you can't say I never warned you. As always, I hope you enjoy!

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I was hoping that his question was rhetorical because I was too busy smashing my lips to his to answer. It felt good to finally do what I've been dreaming of all along.

The heat of his mouth seared mine and I groaned in ecstasy as he wrapped his arms around my back, to pull me closer. His scent filled my every pore, and I knew that I could die now, knowing that heaven had to be at least this good.

I whimpered as he pulled his mouth away from mine, but it lasted mere seconds as he trailed hot kisses up and down my neck and jaw. I gripped the hair on his head tighter, not wanting him to ever leave my side.

He nipped my neck.

I quivered.

"Are you cold?" he asked, his hands leaving my back in search of my face.

I opened my eyes, suddenly realizing for the first time that they had been closed. Why? Why had I closed my eyes when there was so much of Paul to see?

I couldn't find my voice, so I shook my head, kissing his shoulder through the fabric of his shirt.

"Oh I see," he chuckled. "It was a 'you're turning me on' shake." I could feel the vibrations of his laughter against my chest, making me blush and burry my face into his shoulder.

He kissed the top my head. "I think it's about time that we talk."

I nodded, still hiding my face.

His hand trailed down my arm to grab one of my own. He squeezed it once before pulling me in the direction behind him to follow. I clung to his back, not want this fantasy of mine to disappear, but still to embarrassed to confront him about how I truly felt.

By the time we reached the couch, I had memorized every hair on the back of his head. Sitting down next to him, I sucked in a deep breath. I still managed to be stunned by his shear gorgeousness.

Was it possible to love someone this much? Could my heart really swell to the point of exploding, just from my love for one individual?

I think so.

His hand was still holding tightly onto my own, but his other hand palmed my face. He was rubbing his thumb back and forth in a soothing sensation that had my heart melting.

My heart is yours, I thought, treat it well.

We stared into one another's eyes. I couldn't force myself to look away. It would be like denying a starving person food. His eyes were the keys to unlocking my soul and there was nothing that I wouldn't do to continue looking in their depths for the rest of my life.

He brought his head closer, kissing me gently on the lips. This time I watched him, making sure my eyes were open the entire time. I almost keeled over as we stared into each other's eyes while his lips wisped against mine.

"I love you," he said. "And I'm not just saying that because I know it'll make you feel better or because it fits the mood. I'm saying it because I actually do love you."

He let go of my hand, using both of his, now to cup my face. "I want you, I crave you, I _need_ you more than anyone else."

He touched my forehead with his own. "The simplest way of putting my love for you is to say that you are mine and I am yours. There is nothing else but that."

This time I kissed him. Grabbing the back of his head, I trailed my fingers through his dark hair as I sucked on his lower lip. He groaned, pulling my waist towards him so that I was halfway on his lap.

"A father's love my ass," he mumbled into my mouth, pulling me closer. I continued kneading his scalp, until his words sunk in.

I immediately stilled in his arms. Humiliation stained my cheeks.

"Don't," he said, tilting his head down to look into my eyes. I looked past him, into the kitchen. There was no way I was going to look at him.

"You're too important to me, to care about little misunderstandings. Hell," he said, running a hand through his hair. "If anything, this is my fault. I should have made my feelings for you clear. Then we wouldn't have had to pussy foot around each other for as long as we did."

I looked at him, the pain and regret was obvious on his face. It didn't look natural on such a beautiful face and it pained me to see his sadness. Using my index finger to tilt his face up, I asked, "Why didn't you tell me?"

I could see the agony in his eyes as he pulled me even closer to him. "I knew how much of a freak I was to you already. I wasn't about to scare you the hell away." He started to shake his head, "not when I had just found you."

I felt my brow furrow in confusion. "But you must have known," I murmured, "I acted like such a love sick…" I paused smiling, "puppy."

He growled, burying his face into my neck and kissing me there. "How was I supposed to know? You kept pushing that friend of yours at me or talking about a family with another man."

I could feel the slight shivering of his shoulders underneath my hands. I immediately started rubbing his back, whispering in soothing tones.

"You have no idea what it did to me," he said. I could hear him taking in a deep breath. "Listening to you talk about being with another –" he took several more breaths and I could feel the tension throughout his entire body. "To hear you talk about the kids you two would have."

I paused, suddenly realizing that he had lost me after his reference about Ana. "What are you talking about?"

I was perplexed. When had I ever spoke to him about marriage? In fact, I specifically remember trying to avoid that topic, at all costs. So there was no way I could have said anything to him about it.

When he didn't say anything, I pushed his shoulders back to get a better look at him. "What are you talking about?"

His eyes were closed but when he opened them, I swore to myself that I would never do anything to put that kind of misery on his face again.

"When you were asking me about building a house for you and your… your family." I felt his hands at my sides form into fists. "The thought of you living in _our_ house," his shaking was getting worse, "with _another man_."

The light dawned, as my one true love sat trembling before me. I hurriedly grabbed his balled up fists, bringing each one to my face and kissing them. "You silly man," I whispered, now kissing each one of his knuckles. "It was _you_ I was envisioning living with. It was _our_ kids that were running through the house in my mind. And most importantly, it was _me_ envying _your_ wife for living in the house that you made with your bare hands and love."

His shaking subsided as he stared at me. I blushed.

He grabbed a loose strand of my hair, and swept it behind my ear.

"We have a lot to talk about," he whispered.

I nodded. I was having conflicting emotions. On one hand I finally felt like all was right in the world and on the other hand, I was too worried that this was all just some weird twist of fate. As if it were only a dream or some form of mirage.

"Don't start doubting us," he said, planting a kiss on my lips. "I don't know if I could handle it."

I nodded, rubbing my cheek against his five o'clock shadow. "It's just," I murmured into his ear, "I feel so comfortable with you, like I shouldn't have to worry about what I say or do around you." I paused.

"But?" he asked.

I moved away from him, needing to see his reaction when I said this.

"But," I went on, watching his face the entire time, "I don't know whether I should be this comfortable with you so soon."

He tensed, "You don't trust me?"

"No, no, no," I rushed. "That's not what I'm saying."

I saw his silent relief.

I tried to take a different approach, "What I mean is—UGH! I don't know how to say this."

"Just spit it out, don't be afraid," Paul said.

"That's just it, I'm not afraid!" I declared. "That's what scares me. I've known you for a handful of days and just today I find out you _love_ me. Yet, I don't think twice about touching you, about sharing my feelings with you, about anything when it comes to you."

I watched as first confusion and then understanding crossed his face. What stunned me though, was his smile. I was not expecting that.

"Why are you smiling?" I asked.

"Because you're finally as confused about your own reactions as I am," he grinned, grabbing my hand and kissing the tip of one of my fingers.

"What?"

"You heard me," he continued kissing my fingers.

"Wait," I said pulling my fingers away from him, but when I saw the hurt look on his face I gave him back my hand. Where had all of my independence gone?

He didn't resume kissing my hand, instead he gently squeezed it. "Talliah, you of all people should know that you react differently to things compared to the average Joe. Look at me being a werewolf, you didn't scream or faint, instead you just accepted it. Plus the whooper is that you freaked out more about my age than Claire's compared to Quil's. I think we've pretty much established that you have twisted reaction problems."

I narrowed my eyes.

He gave me an innocent look and shrugged, "I'm just saying. I think your instinct has done you good so far, so why not roll with it."

I didn't say anything; I was too heavy into thought.

He sighed, "Look, I know you're a closed off person. If anything I've learned about trying to get information out of the girls; I've learned you don't open up easily."

I tensed.

He kissed my nose.

"You just have to realize that your instinct is right in trusting me, even if it does seem too soon to the average person. Because we aren't average and I'd rather die a thousand deaths using the worst torture imaginable, than hurt you."

He pulled my face towards his and kissed me, "You are what defines me, without you, there is no me."

The way he put it made me feel like an idiot. Why hadn't I just kept my mouth shut?

I lost my train of thought as his tongue slid inside my mouth and I let instinct take over, pulling him closer to my body. His hands were on the back of my thighs pulling me closer and I didn't even question my eager reaction. It felt right, to be here with him. I couldn't imagine myself in a place that could ever make me happier than this.

I gasped when he bit my lower lip.

The next thing I knew, Paul used my waist to swing me into the couch, and crouched in a defensive position.

After initially being stunned, I started to laugh.

Paul turned around, "What are you laughing at?"

Seeing his silly posture, I just kept right on a laughing.

He grinned, "So you think my manly crouch to protect you is funny huh?"

I nodded, still laughing.

"Well how about this," he said pretending to look like a pharaoh. I laughed harder, totally not expecting him to do that.

"Or this," he said pretending to be a scuba diver. It was so cliché that I had to laugh.

"Uhuh, uhuh," he grinned, "what about this?"

When he started to pretend to be a muscle man, I stopped laughing. It wasn't funny anymore. Instead, he was too damn hot, even when he didn't mean to turn me on.

I could see the confusion on his face as he turned to see why I wasn't laughing, but the pure ecstasy on my face must have given me away. He stilled, dropping his arms and I could see the lust in his eyes.

I shivered.

And not because I was angry.

"You are so magnificent," I heard myself say, before turning red.

He growled, picking me up from off of the couch and kissing me. "I'll never get enough of you," he said into my mouth.

I smiled and replied sarcastically, "I'm glad you get a kick out of my worshiping the ground you walk on."

"It's only fair," he grinned, "after all, I'd die for you."

I rolled my eyes. "You're so dramatic."

"I know," he replied. "But that's why you love me."

Before I had a chance to worry about any potential embarrassment, I grabbed Paul's ears, forcing him to face me.

"I love you," I said.

He didn't say anything, so I rushed on.

"And I'm not just saying it because you said it." I whispered, "I really do love you."

I waited for him to say something as he palmed my face and gently placed a kiss on my lips.

"Good," he grinned. "That makes this entire situation so much easier."

I smiled.

Well, that is, until he said, "We definitely have to buy the girls a 'thank you' gift."

My eyes narrowed, "Those dirty dogs, I almost forgot about them!"

"Hey," Paul grinned. "I take offense to that."

I rolled my eyes. "I made them swear not to tell anyone, I can't believe them."

Paul pulled me closer, "No you didn't. You made them promise not to tell their husbands, you never said anything to them about telling me."

I could see the little mischievous twinkle in his eye. "You are all a bunch of dirty dogs," I said, shoving him playfully. This time he chuckled.

"But you love my smelly hide, don't you?" he grinned.

"Yes," I said, grabbing him by the ears for another kiss.

But before I kissed him I murmured, "But it's only because you make great impressions of pharaohs and scuba divers."


	22. Chapter 22

Okay, so I'm updating a little bit earlier than expected but I don't see how that's going to be a problem for anyone. Thank you to those that reviewed my last chapter, I really appreciate everyone for going the extra mile! As usual, I hope you have fun reading this next chapter!

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**Chapter 22:**

This was going to be interesting, I thought, as I stood waiting for Paul to get done signing autographs for the hoards of people at the airport. For a while there, I had almost forgotten that he was a famous singer.

Well, that bubble had definitely burst.

I didn't get much sleep last night, on account of forcing myself to stay awake to stare at Paul. I could feel myself blushing now as I thought about how horribly dorky we were. We didn't even talk most of the night after our initial conversation. It was enough just to know that he was there, sitting next to me, reciprocating my feelings.

I watched him now, as he signed autographs. I could tell he was getting annoyed because his posture was tense. I wanted to go and rub his shoulders but I could just imagine what kind of spectacle that would make.

I was watching his back when he twisted his head around, scanning the crowds for me. I smiled reassuringly when his eyes caught mine and I could see his visible relief. He would do that every other minute or so, as if he thought I would disappear into the crowd.

Ha! That idea was laughable. As if I would intentionally leave him?

I took my time scanning the airport for what had to be the hundredth time. I generally loved airports because I could just sit and watch people for hours, imagining what their lives are like and what they're doing here.

This time however, I was not enjoying myself.

It seemed as if the very second Paul and I had arrived, we were ambushed by paparazzi and fans. I wondered how people could have figured out that we were coming, since we didn't even know Paul was coming with me, until this morning.

It truly flabbergasted me.

I had a fleeting thought of Ana before I shoved it on the back burners of my mind. I tried not to imagine her in the crowd of happy fans waiting for an autograph, but it was hard, since this is exactly the type of thing she'd jump up and down in excitement over.

Paul might have kept glancing at me, but I couldn't stop glancing at the boarding area. I was anxious to get on the plane and be in somewhat more private of settings.

I rolled my eyes at myself, it's not like I was having my privacy invaded. The second people had noticed Paul, I was pretty much shoved out of the way. I don't even think that they had seen that he was with me.

Yet, that was the problem, I wanted to be alone with Paul. I didn't want to share him with the rest of the world.

I sighed, running a hand through my hair. It was something I would definitely have to get used to.

I decided to close my eyes and try to get some sleep in. I was dog tired.

Smiling a little, I wondered if I'd ever get used to all the animal puns.

"Why are you smiling?" I heard Paul ask.

I opened my eyes to see him standing directly in front of me. It wasn't until I looked behind him that I could see dozens of disappointed fans still standing in a large group of adoration. The facial expressions ranged anywhere from hopeless love to… well let's just say that if looks could kill, I'd be a goner.

My eyes turned back towards him. "Oh nothing," I said, teasing him with my smile.

"Uhuh," he grinned back.

I let the moment last, until one of the shoving fans caught my eye. "Um, don't you think you should continue signing autographs if you want us to make it out of here alive?" I asked.

He turned around, and it was as if the entire group stopped moving in anticipation of his next action. I didn't know whether to laugh or be afraid.

When Paul waved, I thought for a moment that I could actually hear hearts breaking. It was amazing what one man could do to an entire audience.

He was still waving when he turned his head to look at me. "I figured you'd rather board the plane early."

I swiveled my head, noticing that the attendants were finally starting to let people board.

"Finally," I huffed, grabbing my purse. It didn't escape my attention that the entire audience of fans was still looking at us, and I was getting edgy.

I was mid-step from my seat when Paul grabbed my arm and asked, "Do you mind if I catch up to you on the plane? If I don't sign here, they're bound to ask me on the plane ride."

It took one glance of the crowd to make my head nod in agreement. I smiled sarcastically, "Yah, you go ahead and have a blast without me."

Paul growled, pulling on my arm to bring me closer. "Aren't you the one that always said that payback's a bitch?"

I licked my lips in heated anticipation. "Mhmm, I can't wait," I replied.

The look on Paul's face was priceless as I turned my back to leave.

"That's not fair," I could hear him whine, as I walked away laughing.

Finding our seats was easier than I thought it was going to be. I had never ridden first class before, so I didn't know how it was going to turn out. I was surprised by how much more space there was and if I admitted, just a little bit miffed that I missed out on this when I road coach.

I had settled in my chair and was reclining with my eyes closed, when I felt someone kiss me. That someone being Paul.

"Hey handsome," I smiled, grabbing his jacket to pull him closer to me.

When my lips touched his, I felt as if it had been decades since the last time we kissed, when really it had been less than an hour. I just couldn't get enough of him and I knew in that moment, that I never would. I could go the rest of my life kissing him every day, and it would never be enough to quench my need for him. It was reassuring to know that I would never grow tired of him, even when he would become old and grey.

"Have I told you lately that I love you?" he said against my lips.

I pressed my lips against his again, before saying, "Not since this morning."

"Oh, okay," he said, placing a kiss on the tip of my nose before sitting down in the chair next to me with a groan. "I'm buying a private plain next time so we can be all by ourselves."

"Sounds good to me," I said, laying my head against his shoulder as he wrapped his arm around me.

"What's wrong?" I asked as I started to notice his brows slowly furrowing closer and closer together.

Using his thumb and index finger, he tilted my head up with my chin. "I want you to be completely honest," he said. "Does all the attention from the fans bother you?"

I thought about it for a few minutes before replying. "Yes," I said, but continued before he had a chance to misinterpret what I meant. "I don't like being the center of attention but I love you and a huge part of you is your music. I could never and would never take that away from you. I love you too much."

I ended my mini speech with a kiss to his lips.

"You're so perfect for me," he said after our kiss, hugging me closer to his side.

No I wasn't, but I wasn't about to tell him that. I'm not the type of girl that ruins her own happy endings. I'm not masochistic.

"How do you think your boss is going to react?" Paul's chest vibrated when he asked.

"Ugh," I said, burying my head into his shoulder. "Why did you have to make me think about that?"

"Because," Paul said a little too low, "I want to be there, if you think he's going to overreact."

I knew, when I left Paul's house, that we were heading to my place to box things up for my move to La Push. Neither of us had actually said anything about me moving, it was just simply understood. We both knew he had to live on the reservation and that I needed to be with him, the only conclusion then, was for me to move.

Yes, I would miss my old home and my job, but I would never regret my decision. It was unbelievable how much Paul meant to me, nothing on this earth could possibly mean more than him. When I reminded Paul of my plane trip today, he just simply said he was coming with me. I hadn't thought twice about it, until now.

My boss did depend on me a lot and I knew that Todd was going to be hurting when I told him. I felt like the biggest jerk on the planet but, as I glanced up at Paul, I knew who came first in my book.

I shivered, wondering if Todd's reliance on me could be so severe as to inspire hidden rage.

"Do you really think he'll be that angry?" I questioned.

"Not for the average person," Paul replied. "A normal person would just be angry at you for dropping them without any heads up. But the way you describe Todd… he sounds like he's really dependent on you, almost like he needs you to survive, and that makes us uncomfortable."

"Yah," I said, "He depends on me like his next breath. I –"

Wait.

"What did you mean by 'that makes _us_ uncomfortable'?" I asked confused.

When Paul started to blush and cleared his throat; I got my answer.

"Did you seriously talk to _them_ about this?" I asked, sitting up in my seat.

He sat up in his seat to; the hurt on his face was evident. "Don't move away from me, just because you're angry with me."

I rolled my eyes, but I understood his pain so I placed my hand in his. "There," I said, "now answer my question."

The pain seemed to have disappeared from his face, replaced by what looked to me, to be determination.

"There's nothing to explain," he shrugged. "I was concerned for your well being, so I talked to the guys about how to handle things if push came to shove."

"When?" I asked. I could have sworn we had been together every second this morning, with the exception of bathroom breaks. But that wasn't long enough for him to change into wolf form and talk to the guys… was it?

"The first day you talked with him over the phone at Sam and Emily's."

My jaw dropped. Was he being serious?

"We weren't even together then," I stated, like an idiot.

He shrugged again, "It was only a matter of time."

I sat back in my seat, realizing for the first time, just how intricate this werewolf thing was. I could understand his last comment about it only being a matter of time, because let's face it, all imprints in the past have ended up with their werewolves sooner or later. It really was just a matter of timing.

What shocked me was that I had never realized how effected I would be by Paul's thoughts being heard by the other members of the pack. Sure, I felt bad for him because he had to deal with it, but I hadn't seen how his thoughts about me could bring about a discussion amongst the guys. Especially, talking about something Paul and I hadn't even spoken about to one another.

"What's wrong?" Paul asked, mimicking my words from earlier.

I looked over at him. "I just never realized how multi-faceted our relationship would be."

He tensed. "I can't help thinking about your safety all the time. It's not something I can stop. And although it's the biggest pain in the ass at times to have the pack listening to my thoughts, when it comes to your safety, I'll _always _welcome their input."

"Yah," I replied. He still seemed overly tense as he sat watching my facial expressions.

"Tell me what you're thinking," he asked, rubbing my hands in his.

"Well," I dragged the word out. "My first thought was that I'm in more than just a two person relationship."

"Talli –" Paul interrupted, but I held my finger up as a sign for him to be silent.

"I wasn't finished," I said to his now slightly trembling figure.

"I understand that it's an aspect of your character that you really can't change. It just hurts a little that you talked to them about a potential problem in our relationship before you spoke to me about it."

I paused before going on to say, "But I know I have to accept it, so I will. Plus, if I really think about it, it's no different than me talking to my girlfriends about us. I mean really," I sarcastically laughed, "who am I to talk? It was because of my blabbering to the girls that got us together in the first place."

There was silence for a few minutes before Paul asked, "Are you finished? Can I say something now?"

"Yes," I replied.

He turned his entire body, so that he was facing me, before he started to talk. I could feel his hand that was holding mine trembling. I didn't know whether to be nervous or not because Paul losing his temper on a plane was not the best idea.

I had enough trust in him though, that he could control his temper, so I didn't say anything.

"I want you to know, that no matter what the circumstances are, there are only two people that count in this relationship. I might unwillingly let something slip that the rest of the pack knows about, but when it comes right down to it, what the two of us think comes first."

I nodded, biting my lower lip.

"I'm serious," he said, somehow moving closer to me in the already cramped quarters. "Besides, the others already imprinted before me, so they know when to say something and when to keep their mouths shut."

I felt reassured by the last statement, so I smiled, lifting his hand up to my lips and placing a kiss on his knuckle. "No worries," I replied, "I trust you not to be taken advantage of by those mongrels."

He grinned, "Good."

"But," I emphasized, scooting closer to kiss his jaw line. "If there's and funny business, I'm going to have to pull out the big guns."

He looked confused.

"What are you talking about?" he asked, when I didn't say anything else.

"I hear Kim really knows how to keep Jared in line," I replied, trying to hold back a smile, "and I'm not afraid to ask for tips."

When what I said registered, he made the saddest puppy dog face. His eyes were like giant puddles of chocolaty mush that made me want to pull him closer and comfort him.

"Would you really?" he said, laying the pouting on thick.

I thought about it.

"Yup," I said, kissing him on the jaw again before bursting out laughing at a random thought that crossed my mind.

"What's so funny?" he asked. "Is there something on my face?"

While he was trying to wipe off the imaginary stuff on his face, I kept laughing.

"What? Tell me," he said, finally figuring out that my laughter had nothing to do with his face.

"I… you…" that's as far as I got before laughing again.

"Tell me," he whined, pulling me closer, so that I was pretty much on his lap now.

I finally started to get a hold of myself. Taking in deep breaths and trying not to look at Paul, because I knew his confusion would set me off all over again.

"Okay," I said to help stabilize my laughter.

Paul's eyes were still on me by the time my will power was strong enough to look at him, without laughing.

"Now will you tell me?" he asked.

"Don't get me angry," I said, pecking him on the cheek. "Or you'll be in the dog house."


	23. Chapter 23

Wow. I can't believe how far along my story has come. It's unbelievable! Thank you so much to all of you that have reviewed my chapters, it means so much to me! I hope this next chapter lives up to all of your expectations! Oh and… MERRY CHRISTMAS!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! (I tried posting this yesterday, but FF wouldn't let me.)

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**Chapter 23:**

I never realized how nervous I was going to be, letting Paul see my apartment. I felt like I was about to show royalty into my humble abode.

I thanked the high heavens that I cleaned before I left. Momentarily remembering having an internal argument with myself over whether or not I should.

I ended up cleaning.

Good past me, I thought, ignoring the urge to pat my own head.

Paul's house was so much better than mine. Hell, he actually built it with his own two hands! The most I could say was that I fixed a door hinge a time or two.

It just sucked, because as much as I didn't want Paul to see my house, there was just absolutely no possible way I would let him NOT come.

The man I adored was temporarily getting our luggage from the baggage claim while I bought us some drinks at a local stand. I sighed, knowing that this was my only chance to let my nerves get the better of me. Soon Paul would return and I'd have to act calm, he knew me to well and had way too many freaky werewolf senses that could give me away if I didn't keep myself in check.

Taking in a deep breath and turning around, I went to go and find Paul.

It didn't take me long. I just had to look for the large group of fans crowding the luggage area and viola! There he was signing more autographs.

It was as if he knew the second I was within distance, because his head popped up and his eyes immediately found mine in the large crowd. He smiled at me before saying something to the fans around him. By their disappointed expressions, I assumed he had told them that he had to go.

Grabbing our bags, he made his way towards me.

"Sorry about that," he grinned. "It comes with the territory," he said once he reached me.

I rolled my eyes at his arrogance.

"You're getting a little hot headed," I smiled. "Maybe I should cool you down," I pretended to be about to pour our drinks over his head.

His grin kicked up a notch and he said, "Mmmm, the image of you in a bikini. Thanks."

I blushed scarlet, wanting to cross my arms over my chest but it was useless while I was holding our drinks.

He barked a laugh.

"Haha, not funny," I commented.

Suddenly his eyes grew dark and his voice got husky. "It wasn't meant to be."

I mentally restrained myself from fainting at the implications of his words.

I heard him growl under his breath before he bumped me in the leg with one of the suitcases.

"Come on," he said. "As much as I'd love to continue this discussion, it's not the time or place."

Coming out of my reverie, I started to notice all of the faces that were watching us. Startled, I started walking towards the nearest door. I needed to get out of this building and I needed to get out fast. It was embarrassing having the entire world watch my relationship with Paul unfold. I got enough heat from myself over my crazy antics; I didn't need them judging me too.

I jumped in the first taxi I saw and Paul followed soon after, once he put the suitcases in the trunk.

"You're adorable," he said, pulling me over to his side of the vehicle and pecking my lips.

I sighed, giving up my mental berating in order to snuggle up with him.

"I'm glad I'm good at something," I murmured.

He kissed the top of my head. "Stop beating yourself up, I don't like it."

I ignored him, enjoying the luxury of being in his arms to much, to argue with him. The rest of the ride was spent in silence as we both left each other to our own thoughts.

When I started to recognize the scenery, my nerves started to act up. I could feel my body tensing and the butterflies in my stomach were swapped with crazy bees. I didn't want Paul to think my home was ugly.

I thought I was doing a pretty good job at concealing my worry until Paul asked me what was wrong.

"Why do you keep asking me that?" I said, trying to evade his question.

His eyes narrowed. "Maybe because I can hear your heart fluttering faster, see that you're starting to get antsy, and smell that you're starting to nervously sweat."

I stilled, trying to calm myself down and come up with a good enough reply.

"Those are all signs of attraction," I said. "Maybe I just like being closer to you?"

He raised one of his eyebrows.

I raised mine.

"Trust me," he said, his eyes smoldering. "I know when I turn you on."

Desire spiraled up my spine as he titled my head back. I forgot what we were arguing about as his tongue searched the recesses of my mouth, giving me the most intense kind of pleasure. I grabbed his hair, using it to pull his face closer to mine.

I could feel his hand in my hair and I almost cried out in ecstasy as he used his fingers to pinch my ear lobe. Instead I groaned, never wanting him to let go.

"This is you turned on," he whispered against my mouth.

I just nodded.

He pulled back, placing tender kisses all across my face. "Good, now tell me what you're worried about," he said in between kisses.

I exhaled, realizing that he had played the game masterfully.

"You're good," I said aloud.

"I know," he grinned, kissing the tip of my chin.

I didn't know what to do, so I did the first thing that came to mind.

I went with my instincts.

I bit his earlobe and I immediately felt Paul tense in my arms. I could hear his heavy breathing in my ear as I silently sucked on the tab of his ear.

Eventually I pulled back, pecking a kiss on the nose of his bewildered face.

"But I'm better," I replied, watching at first how the confusion that covered his face turned into appreciation.

"Yup," he said, lifting my face to look into my eyes. "I could never return you."

"Good," I said in response, "because you wouldn't get a refund."

The immense pleasure I got from Paul's smile was uncanny. How could one man affect me so effortlessly? The very thought of him gave me heart palpitations.

Suddenly I remembered where we were and what we had just been doing.

Kill me now.

I had just made out in public, like a randy teenager. I looked out the windows as dozens of vehicles surrounded us.

Why do I continue to put myself in these situations?

Looking up into the rearview mirror I noticed the taxi driver divert his eyes.

Yup.

I'm definitely ready to die.

"Now what?" I heard Paul ask as I shoved my face into his shoulder.

"I sure hope you know what you're getting yourself into by being with me," I groaned.

He just patted my back. Maybe he was already getting used to my unexplainably awkward behavior?

As I felt the car slowly come to a stop, I sucked in a deep breath and prepared myself. It really was ridiculous how nervous I was. I mean, my mind kept telling me to grow up but the insecure child in me just wanted Paul to like me. And to like me… that meant he had to like my stuff.

After grabbing our suitcases out of the trunk, I proceeded to point in the direction of my apartment.

"It's right over there," I said, pointing to the place I had called home for more than three years.

He grinned, wrapping his arm around my shoulders and pulling me closer. "I'm excited," he whispered in my ear.

I mentally groaned.

I bit my lip as I unlocked the door. For the first time in my life, I found myself hoping that I had been robbed during my visit to La Push. That way I'd have some semblance of an excuse if he didn't like my stuff. I mean, you can't be blamed for your house being ugly if you were just burglarized.

"Okay so don't judge, I –"

Paul cut me off, pushing the door wide open. "Shh," he said, trying to shut me up as he looked around.

The silence was killing me as I watched his eyes scan first the living room, then the dining room, before finally settling on the kitchen.

I saw his eyes light up mere seconds before he strode inside in the direction of the kitchen. "Now here comes the true test," he grinned, walking towards the fridge.

I gulped, wondering what he'd say next.

First he opened the freezer.

"Ice cream." He whimpered, making me laugh.

He turned around grinning. "I know what we're eating later."

I nodded, indulging him.

My finger nails were digging into my palms as he silently scanned each shelf before nodding.

"Yup," he turned, his eyes twinkling. "You're definitely a keeper."

I let out a little sigh as he walked towards me.

"Did you really think I cared what your place was like?" he asked, using my shoulders to pull me into his chest.

I stood on my tippy toes, kissing him underneath his chin. "Nope," I said, "but I cared."

Before he could pull me towards him, into what I knew would develop into a steamy make-out session, I escaped out of his arms and into the hallway.

"Remember," I tisked. "We're here to work."

He stuck his bottom lip out, pouting in the middle of my kitchen.

There was nothing I wanted more in that minute, than to go back to him and lavish that sexy bottom lip of his with kisses.

"Stop it," I groaned, closing my eyes. "That's not fair," I whined.

"Fine," he said, as I heard him walking towards me. "But the second we get home…"

He didn't need to finish the sentence, I was already shivering with lust. My imagination was going a mile a minute and I felt like panting right then and there. The surprising thing, was that I was more turned on by the fact that he had called his place my _home_ than I was about any of my x-rated ideas.

A hard swap to my butt jarred my eyes open.

"What the hell –"

"Come on," he said from over his shoulder. By the way his shoulders were shaking I knew he was laughing.

That ass, I thought, narrowing my eyes as I followed him into the guest bedroom.

Looking around, I was relieved to see dozens of boxes. When I had called my landlord about moving, he had told me about extra boxes in his basement that he was going to throw out into the trash. Luckily he hadn't done so yet, so he told me he would bring them over today.

I was waiting for the sadness to hit me, during the entire time I was packing my things, but it never did. For a while I thought it was just because Paul was keeping me preoccupied with his over the wall statements, but as the time wore on, I realized I just wasn't sad.

I was happy to be moving on to the next stage of my life. I had waited for so long to be with someone special, and I had finally found that with Paul.

How could I regret something so right?

All we had left to pack was the kitchen, but Paul had been begging me for a "chow" break for at least the past half an hour.

"Fine you whine baby," I smiled. "Let's eat."

The transformation from sullen to extreme excitement, that crossed his face, truly scared me.

"Nobody should be that happy to see food if they've already eaten four times in one day," I said.

"Those don't count," he said while taking piles of food out of my fridge.

"Why not?" I asked.

"Because it wasn't buffet style," he shivered, "I had to eat in _portions_."

I rolled my eyes, grinning. "Your portions _are_ buffet style to the average person."

I could only see his back but I imagined him narrowing his eyes.

"Who's side are you on?" he pouted.

I laughed. "Awe, you poor baby. You – "

I was interrupted by a knock on the door.

Paul immediately swiveled around from the fridge. "Were you expecting anyone?"

He knew as well as I did, that I wasn't expecting anyone. I shrugged my shoulders, heading towards the door to answer it. I could have been knocked over by a feather when I saw who was on the other side.

"Hi Todd."

"Thank goodness," Todd exclaimed, making his way into my apartment. "I thought you were never coming back."

I could feel myself starting to get slightly defensive, "I told you I would be to work tomorrow, didn't I?"

"Well yes," he said, looking anywhere but at me, "but I just had to check to make sure."

I was having conflicting emotions. It frustrated me that he was checking up on me, as if I were a disobedient child; then again, I was hurt that for the first time Todd doubted my word.

A movement in the hallway attracted Todd's attention.

Blushing, Todd said, "I didn't realize you had company."

I glanced at Paul. He was acting casual, but I knew him to well not to recognize the tension in his shoulders. I walked over to him and grabbed his hand, hoping to ease the tension slightly. Looking into his eyes, I knew he had his temper under control, but it never hurt to be cautious.

"Todd," I said, swerving my head around. "This is Paul and Paul, this is my boss Todd."

Both men nodded and did the whole "studying the other guy" routine.

"It's nice to meet you," Paul said, holding his hand out for Todd to shake.

Todd smiled nervously, "Oh yes, it's nice to meet you too."

"Talliah has told me much about you," Paul said, wrapping his arm around my shoulders. I noticed Todd's quick shock at Paul's actions.

Shooting me a curious glance, Todd said, "Well I hope it's all good."

"Well to be honest –"

"Paul," I said, rolling my eyes. "Ignore him," I said to Todd, who by now was as red as a tomato. "He's just joking around."

I pinched Paul's back. "Why don't you go finish making lunch?" I ordered, more than asked, of Paul. I could tell he was going to argue so I hurried by saying, "After all, I know how starving you were and I wouldn't want to be responsible if you fainted and needed to go to the hospital."

I wanted to laugh at Paul's stunned face, but decided not to take my chances. Glancing at Todd, I smiled. "Would you like to join us for lunch?"

"No no, I'm fine." Todd stuttered.

"At least something to drink?"

"Um," Todd glanced around the room as if searching for an answer. "Yes, that would be fine."

I smiled, following Paul's earlier steps into the kitchen. "I have apple juice, Mountain Dew and… handy dandy water."

"Uh, water's fine," Todd replied nervously.

When I reached the kitchen, my view of Todd was cut off and an annoyed Paul took over his place.

"What do you think you're doing?" Paul asked.

I thought about ignoring him, but decided against it. He was genuinely worried that Todd might explode when I told him. If I was being honest, somewhere in a corner of my mind, I was afraid to. I just kept reassuring myself that Todd was the man I've grown to consider as a father figure and he would never react so harshly.

Kissing Paul's chin, I smiled. "It'll be fine."

Paul tensed.

"Besides," I went on, "If anything does happen, you'll be there to save me in ten seconds flat."

"Psh," Paul scofted. "More like two seconds."

I rolled my eyes and grabbed Todd's glass to bring into the living room. Paul grabbed my arm, causing me to look up at him. His eyes that were mere seconds ago playful, were now filled with worry.

"Please just be careful with how you say things. I was really hoping you wouldn't have to do this until tomorrow, but with him showing up…"

I smiled, despite my unease. "I know what you mean and no worries, I won't let out any of your werewolf secrets."

"No," Paul said, rubbing his thumb back and forth on my skin. "I meant that I want you to be careful on how you tell him you're leaving. If you think he'll handle it better by telling him more abruptly, than do it that way. If you think you have to tell him in baby steps, than take your time. There's no rush, and I don't want you to have any regrets when we leave."

I felt like crying at Paul's sincerity. His caring for my feelings never failed to amaze me.

"I love you," I said.

Placing a kiss on my forehead, he replied, "Good."

The next hour and a half was painful as I explained to my boss, slash father figure, that I was no longer going to be working for him or living by him.

It was heart wrenching to watch his reactions and handle my own.

The only good thing about the entire experience was that the closest Todd came to exploding, was when he burst into tears.

That happened a lot.

Todd did get angry, but we had nothing to worry about because it was like a kitten getting mad. Still, Paul did come into the room when Todd started huffing and puffing, but he always ended up balling his eyes out.

I felt horrible as I watched Todd plead with me to stay for a little bit longer. He was my surrogate father for so long, that it was hard to see the disappointment in his eyes. I felt like the cruelest person in the world when he asked me to stay just two more weeks, the courteous two weeks' notice given to any employer, especially one that was like a dad.

But looking at Paul, I knew that I couldn't. The pain I was experiencing now was nothing to the heart wrenching agony I would be feeling if I had to be separated from Paul for such a long time. It was just unimaginable.

Tears misted my eyes throughout the entire ordeal, but I kept them in check. The last thing I needed was to have to comfort myself on top of having to sooth Todd's sadness.

I was surprised that Todd never once blamed Paul. It was the one thing that I was for sure expecting to happen. Instead, Paul and I were both shocked when Todd told Paul to look after me and threatened him bodily harm if something ever happened to me.

The irony didn't escape me that the meekest man on the planet was threatening my werewolf imprint.

As I hugged Todd, apologizing for the last time, and promising to call him on a regular basis, I felt the reality of what was going on set in.

I was leaving everything that was familiar to me.

Closing the door, I turned, leaning my back against the wood. I couldn't see, my eyes were blinded from so many tears.

"Why do I keep hurting everybody?" I sobbed.

"Come here," Paul said, pulling me towards him in comfort.

As he trailed his hands up and down my back to sooth me, I understood why I was doing this. I needed this man. I needed the reassurance that only he could give me; the love that only he could share with me.

Still, it hurt.

And as I sobbed in Paul's arms, I took comfort in the fact that this was the only place I ever wanted to be.

In my werewolf's arms.


	24. Chapter 24

Thank you to everyone who has reviewed my chapters, I know I keep saying that, but really I truly appreciate the time taken to tell me what you think.

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**Chapter 24:**

When we returned to La Push, all I wanted to do was sleep. I felt exhausted. More than once I glared at Paul's cheery disposition. He was, after all, used to the little sleep and ten times happier now that I was officially living on the reservation.

I didn't even make it to the bed, I just fell into the couch. Still, when I woke up in the bedroom I wasn't afraid, I had no doubt that Paul was being his overly paranoid self by moving me to make sure I didn't get a neck ache or something equally as annoying. I laughed at the image of me trying to do the same for him… I didn't see it working out, no matter what scenario I played.

It took me a minute to convince myself that I had to go for a jog. I really didn't want to, but I knew it was for the best since I hadn't gone for one in a few days.

It occurred to me that Paul might want to join since his super human abilities made it possible for him to keep up with me. I grinned, yah, like that was the only way he'd be able to keep up. I guess I just wasn't used to being with someone who could match me pace for pace.

Now I was with someone who could out run me, times ten.

"Paul?" I said, searching the house for one of the sexiest men alive.

No one answered.

Hmm…

I was just reaching for the phone, when a note on the fridge caught my eye.

_Had to catch up with the pack, I'll be back as soon as possible. _

_Paul._

I glanced at the clock. I had been sleeping for two hours, he could have left anywhere from two hours to five minutes ago.

Oh well, I wasn't waiting.

I turned the paper over, jotting down my plans to jog, in case Paul got home before me.

Home.

The sweet feeling that came over me, every time I realized Paul and I had the same home, never grew old.

I closed my eyes, just letting the feeling of completeness settle over me.

Opening my eyes, I screamed at the top of my lungs.

"Jeeze," Paul said, backing up to get away from me.

"You big JERK!" I raised my voice, trying to calm my racing heart. "Why did you do that?"

He grinned. "I didn't want to disturb you, the look on your face was to… beautiful."

I would have blushed, but most of my blood was still plugging up my heart. "Well still," I replied, "you could have at least backed up a few feet and not have stood right in my face. Jeeze, I'm so going to die early because of you."

He walked towards me, his smile picking up. "Nah, it's my job to make sure you live as long as possible."

I rolled my eyes, "Well I've got to tell you, that's not the impression you're giving."

He smirked, pulling my waist towards him. "I could care less about impressions. I just need to have you here to hold, to know I'm doing my job."

His lips on mine silenced any reply I had to his macho approach.

That was okay with me. I liked his way of settling our disputes.

I bit his lip.

He growled, pulling my body tighter against his.

The door behind Paul slammed open.

You have got to be kidding me.

"Damn it!" Paul exclaimed, mere millimeters from my mouth.

"Oops," Seth grinned.

Paul was looking into my eyes and the desire there almost had me yelling at Seth to get out. In fact, I was on the verge of doing just that when Paul said, "This had better be important." Braking eye contact with me, he turned to face Seth.

Seth was smiling. "Believe it or not I feel for yah. I've been in the position more than a time or two with –"

"Seth," Paul said annoyed.

"Oh right," Seth said, standing up straighter. "Sam told me to round you up because Jake got a whiff of something east of here."

Paul's entire posture tensed. I could see the muscles in his back bunch up.

Placing my hand on his back, I said, "Is everything okay?"

He did some kind of silent communication with Seth before placing a kiss on my forehead. "Everything's fine, we just have to check out whatever Jake said he smelled."

I narrowed my eyes.

He rolled his. "What? You're the one that said I wasn't doing a good job of keeping you safe, well here I go."

I crossed my arms.

"Okay, that's my cue to leave," Seth said, backing out of the house.

Once he left, our complete attention was focused on each other.

"Is it a vampire?" I asked.

"Most likely," Paul said, watching my face.

Worry immediately consumed me.

"Don't worry," Paul stated, pulling me into his arms. "We've fought them a million times, it's old school by now."

"Don't tell me that," I whined, rubbing my face against his chest. "It's usually when you get cocky, that things go wrong."

"Nothing's going to happen."

"I love you," I whispered, pulling his face towards mine.

Nipping his bottom lip, I felt his hands on my waist contract.

"Mmm," I murmured.

"I can't," he said, at the same time he grabbed my thighs and lifted me up onto the countertop.

I wrapped my legs around him to pull his body closer.

He groaned.

"I can't," he whispered, as he sucked on my neck.

"I know," I whimpered, running my hands through his hair.

The grip my legs had on him, tightened of their own accord. We both moaned.

"I really can't," he said before finding my mouth with his own for a heated kiss.

"I know," I said again, pulling our lips apart for the slightest of seconds.

His hands were at the hem of my shirt when we heard a wolf howl somewhere outside.

We both instantly stopped what we were doing, panting as we looked at one another.

I was the first to break the silence, "Please be careful."

He nodded, stepping towards me. I held up my hand to stop him.

"I'm still hot and bothered so unless you want a repeat…" I let my sentence trail off on its' own.

Paul grinned, "Can I take a rain check?"

I raised an eyebrow, "Like there was any other option?"

A slight silence descended upon us as we soaked the images of one another up.

Another wolf howled, or maybe it was the same one.

Paul tensed. "I have to go."

I nodded, the worry for him choking me up.

"I'll be back as soon as possible."

I nodded again.

He came and kissed me on the forehead before stepping back.

"I'm sure some of the girls will show up, so you'll have company until I return."

I tried to smile, but it wasn't really working out well.

"I love you," he said, before opening the door.

"I love you too," I replied, forcing the worry out of my throat for a minute so I could say the most important thing to the one I love.

The ache in my chest was intense the moment his back was no longer visible in the door way. A big kudos went up to all the armed forces relationships. Anyone that could do what I had just done for months at a time had guts in my book. Even knowing Paul would be back by tomorrow was way too much worry for me to handle.

I grabbed a chocolate candy bar from one of the cupboards and went to sit on the couch and wait.

I didn't have to wait long for company. Just as Paul had predicted, the girls showed up, loud as ever.

"No," Kim said, walking through the front door.

"Please?" Claire begged.

"N- O-, that means NO!" Kim yelled.

"Come on, it's for charity," Claire wheedled.

"So what, I've filled my quota for charity events this year."

Claire glared, "There's never too much charity."

Sensing a fight brewing, I decided to intervene. "What are you two arguing about?"

Claire, still glaring at Kim, said, "There's this charity I'm a part of and it needs two people to volunteer to be in costume as Disney characters and Kim won't dress up as one."

"Listen, I have nothing against charities. I'll even help with this one, but I am NOT dressing up as some frilly princess or something," Kim complained.

My eyes shifted back to Claire, "Why not just get the guys to do it?"

"Ha," said Claire. "Like any one of them would volunteer."

I lifted and eyebrow, "Don't give them the choice."

Kim laughed. "I like your style but there's no way you're going to be able to get them into doing this. If the oh so convenient excuse of patrol doesn't get them out of it, then they say they can't because their celebrity status would cause way to much unneeded attention and since Sam agrees… well, it's pretty much a done deal that they don't dress up."

I thought about it for a moment, before I felt the evil smile form on my face.

"What?" Kim grinned.

I smiled, "Don't worry about it Claire, I've got it covered. You said it had to be a Disney character right? Does it matter which one?"

"Uh, no?" Claire looked worried.

I laughed, "This is going to be great then."

"Ooooooooooh, no fair!" Kim exclaimed. "Tell me what your evil plan is."

"Nope," I replied, pretending to zip up my lips and throw away the key. "You'll find out when I tell the lucky two."

"Ugh," Kim huffed into the recliner next to me. "Sometimes you make it hard for me to like you."

I laughed, before the realization of what Paul was doing hit me.

Then I stopped smiling.

Claire was the first to notice my changed attitude. "I'd like to tell you the worry goes away after a certain passage of time, but I'd be lying."

"But on the bright side," Kim said, "it gets slightly more bearable so you're not pulling your hair out of your head every five minutes with the stress."

I gave them a weak smile, "Thanks."

For the rest of the night, the girls tried to distract me with funny stories or their usual bickering. The worry would just start to ease up when something would remind me of Paul all over again. Something as menial as cooking made me think of Paul when he was choking and I had to pound him on the back. It's not that I thought I had to be with him to protect him, but rather it reminded me of just how mortal he is.

Every sound had me looking at the door, waiting for him to walk through it. Every time he didn't, I felt as if someone was stabbing me in the chest.

I know it sounded cliché, but time really did slow down; when all I wanted it to do was move faster.

A wolf howled, causing me to jump up and go to the window to look outside.

Nothing but woods.

"Girl, you need to get your mind off of him," Kim said, walking to stand beside me at the window.

"And I know just the thing," Claire said, as music blared out off the stereo behind us.

Turning, I saw Claire grab three spatulas and toss them our way. "Come on girls, put some heart and soul into it."

"Seriously?" I asked, "This is so middle school."

Kim's eyes narrowed.

I started singing.

I didn't really know the lyrics to the song, so I did a horrible job at mouthing the words. The second song is where I hit the jackpot though, because I knew every word. I thought I was doing pretty good until I saw Kim getting really into the lead singer's role.

The game was on.

I grabbed the chair and jumped onto the counter, whipping my hair around as I sang into my homemade microphone.

"OH IT'S ON!" I could hear Kim yell over the music as she jumped up next to me and started shakin' her money-maker.

We were in the middle of a fierce, competitive rendition of shaking our lovely lady lumps when I noticed Claire laughing her ass off on the floor below us. I elbowed Kim, to get her attention.

"Look at that freak laughing at us!" I yelled over the noise.

"She's just jealous because we've got moves she's never seen!" Kim shouted back.

I smirked.

"I don't know," came a deep voice from behind us, "I've seen her do some pretty wicked stuff."

My eyes bugged as I swiveled to see a group of men standing by the door watching us make fools of ourselves. I immediately sat down on the counter. Kim followed swiftly after.

"I… can't… breathe," Claire said from on the ground.

Kim and I glared.

"Oh come on, it was hilarious!" Claire replied.

"You –"

I cut myself off, swerving my head back towards the door. Back to my _man's_ figure. I jumped off of the counter and lunged into his arms.

"You're back!" I said, kissing his jaw.

"Yup, safe and sound; just like I said." He replied, rubbing my back.

"Ugh," Kim groaned, "It's about time, she was driving us insane."

"Shut up," I said, smiling.

"I know what she means," Paul whispered in my ear, "I was only here for five minutes, and you were driving me wild."

I blushed at his reference and he laughed.

"It _was_ pretty hot," Seth said, earning him a jab in the ribs by both Paul and Jared.

I tried to look stern when Paul's attention came back to me.

"Ah… what?" he tried giving me a look of innocence. "Is it so bad that even when you're goofing off I find you sexy?"

I didn't say anything.

"Come on," he wheedled, "you looked good."

"Yah," said Seth, "and besides, we would have seen it in his head later anyways."

Everyone in the room glared at Seth.

"It was joke," he replied.

I ignored him, turning my head to smile at Paul. "It's okay, I know a way you can make it up to me."

"Ut oh," Quil laughed, "that doesn't sound too good."

Paul exaggerated a gulp, "What?"

I smiled a little too sweetly, "I want you to dress up as a Disney character for Claire's fundraiser."

He grinned cockily, "Sorry no can do, Sam's orders."

"Oh okay," I played dumb. "So if Sam gives you the okay, then you'll do it?"

"Yes?" he said it like a question, his eyes narrowing.

"Okay," I said in my most chipper voice and skipped to the phone. Dialing the number of the once upon a time wolf whisperer. I felt everyone's curious glances. Okay, I know I was playing it up by skipping and everything, but I was really starting to feel like I had toilet paper sticking to my foot or something.

"Hello," answered a woman's voice.

"Oh hi Emily," I replied. "This is Talli. Is Sam available?"

"Sure, hold on for a minute."

As I waited for Sam to answer, I glanced at my audience. "Didn't your mothers ever teach you not to stare?"

"Well, with such a great view –"

I cut Paul off as Sam's voice came to my ear. "Yup?"

"Oh hey Sam, I had a question about Claire's fundraiser. I –"

"No," Sam said cutting me off. "Sorry but, we don't need that kind of attention on us."

I glared at the phone, hearing snickers behind me.

"Okay," I said, pausing to calm myself down. "I was about to say, before you so rudely interrupted, that none of the guys' faces will be showing. In fact," I looked up at Paul to gauge his reaction, "no one will know their identity at all."

"Oh," Sam said, his voice matched Paul's face filled with curiosity. "I thought it was supposed to be a princessy-princey type of thing."

"It was," I replied, "but I was added to make… adjustments."

I wanted to kiss the confusion off of Paul's face, but decided to save the fun for later.

There was still silence coming from Sam's end.

"Sam?"

"Oh, uh yah," he replied. "Okay, fine then. That sounds good, as long as no one notices them."

"They won't," I replied, before hanging up.

"So," I smiled, walking over to Paul.

He grinned, "You had this planned the entire time didn't you?"

"Yes my love," I laughed, kissing his nose as he pulled me into his arms.

There was a slight pause before Kim burst, "Come on already! Tell us how you're going to hide their faces."

"You said they had to be a Disney character right?" I glanced up at Paul, pecking his lips, "and I thought they'd be able to better relate to the dog characters..."

I turned around, "Well it wouldn't really work if Pluto and Goofy had human faces now would it?"

"I LOVE IT!!!!" Kim shouted at the same time Claire said, "Why didn't I think of that?"

"Har har, very funny," Paul said, biting down on my neck.

"I thought so," I grinned, kissing his cheek.

"If this how you treat me when I say you're sexy, I'd hate to see your reaction to something worse." I sunk into his embrace as he pulled me closer to his chest.

"I missed you," I said, before we kissed.

"You two are so cheesy," Jared said, walking towards Kim for a dramatic lip-lock. Making it seem as if his statement was more meant for the two of them.

I rolled my eyes as Paul twirled strands of my hair.

"So," Paul said, interrupting my thoughts, "What character am I? Goofy or Pluto?"

"I was thinking Pluto," I said. He didn't need to know that I chose that character because I thought his kisses were out of this world. Now that _would_ be cheesy.

"Claire Bear, what fundraiser did you say this was for?" chuckled Quil. "I just might want to see this."

"Haha, yah!" Seth and Quil bumped fists.

I smiled mischievously at Paul, causing him to quirk his brow.

"I'm so happy you said that Quil," I said, "After all, didn't I tell you when I first met you; that pay back's a bitch?"

I paused waiting to see if he remembered my reference to my first day at Claire's when I met him. When it looked like he got what I was talking about, I smiled.

"You'll make a great Goofy."


	25. Chapter 25

Hey, so just a little forewarning, the end of the story is coming pretty soon. I know that if I really wanted to I could pan it out longer because there are just so many ideas running through my mind, but in the end, I think the characters are just about ready to handle things on their own without my meddling. Anyways, I hope you enjoy this chapter as much as previous ones.

* * *

**Chapter 25:**

I turned out of the driveway and made it a mile and a half down the road before I had to pull the truck over. I was laughing so hard, it was a wonder that I could breathe at all. The image of Paul in that Pluto suit….

I…

Can't…

Breathe…

My imagination didn't do the real visual any justice.

If I had a million dollars, I would have given it all to see through the fabric covering Paul's and Quil's faces. They had to be beat red with embarrassment.

Oh to be a billionaire.

I didn't know how Claire could stay any longer, without bursting at the seams. I had to get out of there, every second I felt my mouth twitching to crack up. The last thing I needed was for the two werewolves at the party to get mildly annoyed, so at the first chance I hopped in Paul's truck. Flagging Claire down, I told her to tell Paul I was heading out to Kim's place and made my getta-way.

Poor Claire, she was going to need a lot of self control before the day was done. When I left, "Pluto" and "Goofy" were singing Disney songs. To be honest that was the last straw that broke this camel's back. Those two may be the sexiest men in one of the most sensational bands in the United States, but when they were reduced to singing Disney songs, their keys and pitches were all over the place!

Man do I love that werewolf.

Smiling, I passed through the small town of Forks. So much had happened since the first time I drove through this town. It was amazing really, how much time had altered my entire life.

I was just passing a familiar brick building, when I decided to pop in for a visit.

What could it hurt, I thought. Maybe, if I say the right things, I could land a job.

Walking into the doctor's office, I immediately saw the youthfully, pale face of the doctor's wife.

"Hello," I smiled.

She must have remembered me from before, because she stood up saying, "Talliah, I was wondering if you were going to risk coming back."

I felt my eyebrows crawl together in confusion.

"Risk coming back?" I repeated.

"Yes," Dr. Cullen said, walking towards us from one of the back rooms. "Sadly, because this is a hospital, a lot of people don't want to come back in fear of catching a virus."

I had tried to prepare myself for how stunning the doctor was, but my memory hadn't prepared me well. In that moment I was more than grateful that Paul wasn't with me and that no one could read my thoughts. Not that I was about to jump on the doctor, but I knew Paul would have noticed my reaction and gotten defensive. It really was weird though, because as attracted as I was to this stranger, my instincts always went haywire around him.

I wonder if he's a serial killer masquerading as a doctor, like on those Lifetime movies.

In that moment the doctor chuckled, and I lifted my head up in his direction. Damn, I hadn't been paying attention, had he said something funny that I wasn't aware of?

"So," Dr. Cullen went on, "I'm assuming you're here to inquire about that medical billing position from a while back."

I smiled, relieved that he did, in fact, remember who I was.

"Yes," I replied. "Are you hiring still?"

I saw the two of them share a quick glance. The same action would have given me whiplash had I recreated it with Paul.

"You are staying then? In the area I mean," Mrs. Cullen said, but in all actuality it sounded closer to a person singing.

"Yes," I smiled, "I actually ended up moving to La Push."

"Right next door," Dr. Cullen replied.

I tried to keep up my smile. I had thought living 'next door' would be deemed a benefit to my potential future employers; but in seeing their hesitation, I wasn't so sure anymore

I glanced past them to look at the time; maybe I should make a quick excuse and save myself the embarrassment of not being hired. My eyes passed the picture of a young girl that I had only recently discovered was now a grown woman.

Nessie.

Spotting an opportunity, I said, "I recently met your daughter, and I must say that I was more than shocked to realize she was no longer a child."

Mrs. Cullen immediately smiled.

"Age is really on your side," I went on, "you two don't look a day older than that photo; especially considering your daughter is now an adult."

"Please," Mrs. Cullen laughed, "Call us by our first names: Edward and Bella. Nessie told us about your introduction, and any friend of our daughter's is a friend of ours."

I smiled, until I realized what Nessie could have potentially told them about our introduction. That day I had been very upset with Paul and Ana, so I hadn't been on my best behavior.

I wanted to groan.

Mr. Cu—Edward, put his arm around his wife stating. "Yes, anyone that scares Jacob into growing up, is a friend of mine."

Bella rolled her eyes, tinkling with laughter, "I bet you were just dying to say that?"

The look they shared, had me questioning whether or not Edward was actually a werewolf, like every other guy around here seemed to be, that had imprinted on Bella. The pure love in the room that radiated off of the look he sent her had me wanting to turn around, whisk Paul away from the fundraiser and make passionate love to him.

Instead I stood awkwardly by, pretending fascination with a picture on the wall.

A waterfall, oh joy.

"Well," said Edward, bringing my attention back to him. "The medical billing position is still open if you're interested."

I bit the inside of my cheek to keep from jumping up and down.

"Yes," I replied, "I'm very interested."

"Good," stated Bella, "It'll be great to work with another woman for a change."

I laughed when Edward made a sad face at his wife. She ignored him, grabbing my hand to pull me behind the desk.

I was immediately startled by how frozen her hand was. My eyes flew to her face, she definitely did look pale. Maybe she was sick.

I was about to say something but Edward interrupted me. "Remind me again love, did you put that new shipment of icepacks away?"

Bella immediately dropped my hand. "Oh… yes."

Ice packs huh? That must be why her hands are so cold. I'm such a worry wart, I was starting to turn into Todd.

Great, just what I needed.

Lifting my head, it was hard to argue that she looked healthy because of her white coloring. Oh well, maybe she was just one of those lucky model types with flawlessly pale skin.

I was envious for a minute, then thought of all the times she must get sunburned instead of tanned.

Poor soul.

When I looked up at Edward he was smiling. What for, I had no idea.

He didn't strike me as the loony type.

His lips twitched, pulling my mind in a different direction entirely that had me immediately chanting: Paul, Paul, Paul.

"Here we are," Bella said, pulling out what looked to be a handful of documents. "You're going to have to fill these out and return them by the end of the week. Then you can officially start working as soon as you get settled in."

"It sounds like a plan," I beamed, my mind racing with the exciting news to tell Paul.

After another short conversation and a few goodbyes, I was out of the door, doing a mental cha-cha on my way to the truck.

Paul was going to flip when he found out that I already landed a job within the first week of being here. I couldn't wait to tell him!

In all of my excitement, I decided not to drive over to Kim's. She would notice and ask me a million questions, and I wanted to break the news to Paul first.

It seemed liked hours had passed, before I heard the familiar sound of tires on our gravel driveway. Peeping out of the kitchen window, I could see that it was Claire and her ever faithful Goofy dropping Paul off.

I was slightly disappointed that they weren't stopping for a visit, but the idea of telling Paul privately was just as exciting. I couldn't stop grinning!

I didn't give my sexy man a chance to get half way to the house before I whipped open the door. I probably looked like a crazy woman with all of my exhilaration bubbling up, but I didn't care.

Paul was about five feet away from me, when he suddenly stopped.

The intensity of the stare he sent my way caused a shudder to go down my spine, I had only seen that look one other time.

Before I knew what was going on, Paul was at my side holding my arm in a violent grip, as he shouted Quil's name out. My mind didn't even had time to register the truck backing up before, Paul tugged me closer to his body. I felt like a bug stuck to a fly trap.

"Who's here?" Paul asked me, as shudders started to overtake his entire figure.

"P- Paul," I stuttered, his body language was scaring me. What was going on?

"Answer me!" He said, shaking me in the little room he provided to be between us. Our bodies were now so close together that I had a hard time trying to decipher if it was him or me shaking.

By now Quil had stopped the truck and was pulling Claire behind him, just as closely as Paul was holding me to his.

"Do you smell that?" Paul asked, to which Quil just nodded.

"No one's here," I answered, scared out of my mind for reasons that only the two werewolves in my company seemed to know.

"Stay here," Paul said, gently shoving me into Quil.

"Watch her," he ordered, before disappearing into the house.

"What's going on? Is Paul okay? Why is he shaking?" I asked, in between heartbeats.

"Quil?" Claire's calm voice asked, showing me just how hysterical I was starting to sound.

What was I doing? I'm not the hysterical type, I immediately got a hold of my self.

"Vampire," he said.

And that's all he needed to say to make us both shut up and the hysteria in my mind to bubble up again.

I was anxiously looking at the door, waiting to see Paul come walking outside. Right when I was in the middle of devising a plan to escape Quil, Paul came from around the back of the house.

"The scent is barely traceable inside the house," Paul said roughly, as he glanced in our direction. I needed his touch, just as much as he needed mine, when he pulled me away from Quil.

"Did anyone stop by? They could have been selling something?" he asked me, as if the last part was my cue to say 'oh now I remember'.

Yah right.

"No," I said, shaking my head. "No one's been here since I got here."

Earlier I had been amazed because I hadn't seen him shudder after he returned but I could feel the small quakes in his arm that was around me. Trying to comfort him, I was in the process of running my hand across his face, when he growled.

He growled.

At _me_.

Capturing my hand in his, he snapped, "Who touched you?"

"Touched me?" I asked.

His grip tightened.

"Paul, that hurts," I said, not really in conviction because I knew he didn't know his own strength.

"WHO TOUCHED YOU!" he growled, starting to shake violently again. His hold on my arm was starting to make me wince.

"PAUL!" Quil hollered, stepping towards us. "Let her go!"

The immense pain in Paul's eyes was overwhelming as at first he took a step a way, then slowly he kept moving back.

"They _touched _her!" he said, shaking his head, as a new wave of tremors over took his body.

"I know man, calm down. We'll figure it out," Quil said, gently placing himself between my werewolf and me.

It didn't look like Paul was going to calm down, his posture was only getting more tense.

"Paul?" I said his name in worry. He gave me the briefest of looks, but I'll never forget the agony in his eyes.

"Don't let her out of your sight," he ordered, before turning his trembling back and running into the woods.

The silence that proceeded was numbing.

After watching the woods for a few minutes, Quil turned around to face me.

"Tell me everything that happened from the minute you left the fundraiser," he ordered.

I didn't bother arguing or making a sarcastic comment. My only hope, was that by answering all of his questions, then maybe Paul would return sooner.

"I drove about a mile up the road before pulling over –"

"Did someone pull you over?"

"No, I –"

"Did you meet up with anyone?"

"No, I –"

"Then why did you stop?"

My eyes were slits now, Quil was lucky I didn't turn into a werewolf when I was angry.

"Why don't I ask her?" Claire interjected, realizing that I was about to whip some ass; with heated words that is.

"I don't think that's a good idea –"

She didn't give him a chance to finish his sentence. "Start from the beginning Talli, and then when you finish, I'll ask you questions."

I would have smirked, if I wasn't preoccupied with the thought that Paul had went all werewolfy on me again.

"Like I said before, I pulled over halfway down the road to get out a good laugh." Somehow that statement no longer held any humor for me, so I didn't bother to pause for a breath. "I didn't meet or recall seeing anyone, while I was there. Then I drove through Forks and –"

I stopped talking, trying to decide on whether or not I should tell them the news before I told Paul.

"You what?" Quil interrupted.

"Well, I was really hoping I could tell Paul this first," I looked over at Claire. "You know, couple stuff."

She nodded, but I knew without her having to say anything that she was insisting that I tell them. "Well I stopped by the doctor's office to see if they had that job opening still available and they did."

I smiled at Claire, "I got the job."

I was amazed that I could smile, when I was so worried about what was going on with Paul.

"Congratulations," Claire said at the same moment Quil huffed, "Well there we go."

"You have to promise not to tell Paul," I said anxiously. "I'm really hoping to see his reaction."

"Ha!" Quil barked. "You already have honey."

I narrowed my eyes.

"Quil," his imprint said in warning.

He shrugged his shoulders, "Come on, let's go inside."

"Wait," I said to his retreating back. "Don't you want to hear the rest of what happened?"

"Claire, do you want to explain this?"

"Uh, sure," she said, seeming kind of hesitant.

My eyebrows perked up in interest.

"Well, you see –"

I loved Claire to death, but this was the time that Kim usually butted in to blurt out all the important stuff.

"Please Claire," I said, letting her hear just how nervous I was about Paul.

"The Cullen's are vampires, albeit they're good vampires." My jaw dropped as she went on. "That's the scent Paul must have smelled and well, now we know."

I sat down on the ground, stunned.

"She has a sitting fetish, when she's processing things, doesn't she?" I heard Quil ask.

"It's better than screaming," Sam said, from out of nowhere.

I glanced up. He gave me a polite smile, "Paul sent me to check on you."

I would have been much happier had he come himself, instead of sending Sam as his errand boy.

My concern got the best of me, so I asked, "Is he okay?"

His smiled tensed, "You'll see him in a bit, once he cools down."

I was slightly annoyed that Sam didn't answer my question, but the information he did give me, did a lot to calm me; so I didn't complain.

Yet.

"Come on now," Sam said, holding his hand out for me to grab. "Let's get inside."

I reached for his hand, mainly because I felt it would be insulting to ignore him. Meanwhile, a thousand thoughts were running through my head. The most prevalent one; was the Cullens.

Once we were all inside I asked no one in particular, "How are the Cullens _good_ vampires?"

The answer I received came in the form of a tribal legend mixed with a bunch of tid bits from Quil, such as: "veggie bloodsuckers" or "wanna be good guys".

I ignored Quil's two cents for the most part, trying to not let his bias alter my opinion of the friendly beings that I happen to have met and liked twice already.

After Sam finished with the legends, I asked about Nessie and Jacob's role in all this, which brought on a whole new fountain of information.

Wow.

Right when I thought I had this fantasy world all figured out – BAM – there's more.

Although I was happy about the ending, regardless of how twisted it turned out, I was starting to get a major headache from all the drama.

And I was really starting to get irritated that Paul hadn't returned.

And that Quil was chomping on his chips so loudly.

And oh yah… that Paul should have been back by now.

I was steaming; didn't he know that I was just as concerned for his safety as he was for mine?

"To bad about the job though," I heard Quil say with his mouth full of food.

I quirked an eyebrow, asking, "Why?"

"I know you were really looking forward to it."

"So?" I asked, completely oblivious as to what point he was trying to make.

Quil's eyes bugged, "Holy –"

"Quil!" Claire yelled.

"Fudge!" he finished.

Claire smiled.

"Sam, is she serious?" Quil asked, as if I wasn't less than ten feet away from him.

I rolled my eyes, not really caring about where this conversation was going. Quil's logic was beyond me.

"Uh," Sam looked uncertain, before he turned around and asked, "You're not serious about still taking the hospital job with the Cullens, are you?"

I gave them both a weird look, "Of course, why not?"

"Holy –"

"Quil!"

"- Fudge, she is serious," Quil exclaimed.

I shrugged my shoulders. "If they don't harm people, I don't see the problem."

When nobody, meaning Quil, said anything, I thought the issue was settled. It wasn't until it struck me that the room had grown eerily quiet, that I looked up at all of their worried faces.

I only then felt the cool breeze on the back of my neck, being let in from the front door. I swiveled in my seat, glancing in the same direction as everybody else in the room.

Behind me.

"There isn't going to be a problem," Paul said from his intimidating stance by the doorway, "because you're not working with them."


	26. Chapter 26

Oh boy, I can't believe I'm near the end of this story. It really feels like just yesterday I was nervously typing up the first chapter to my first fanfic, thinking it would be a horrible failure! Thankfully that wasn't the case! So, thank you for cheering me on, I'll never forget it!

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**Chapter 26:**

My first reaction to seeing Paul was a sigh of relief. Even though I knew he wasn't in any type of danger, his very absence was worrying.

My second reaction was: Oh no he did _not _just go there!

Standing up, I forced a smile on my face. "I think we need to talk."

"There's nothing to talk about," he announced. "You're not working with them; what could be left to say?"

My eyes narrowed. Did he really think that was the end of this conversation? The very idea was laughable.

I understood his point of view, but he was going way over the line by trying to tell me what to do. This wasn't a dictatorship, and it wasn't about to become one.

I no longer pretended to smile. Instead I turned my head, speaking to Claire. "Thank you for staying and I'm sorry Paul is forcing me to be rude, but do you mind leaving so we can speak privately?"

"I don't think that's such a good idea," interrupted Sam.

The look I sent him would have scared a lesser man, but he just winced. Emily was _so _going to hear about this later.

Plastering the smile back on my face, I replied, "Let me put it this way: either you go or I go."

I could feel the tension in the air the moment the last word fell from my mouth. Everyone was watching Paul's reaction behind me, but I didn't bother turning around. I mentally counted to ten, waiting for someone to make a move to leave. When no one did, I started to walk towards the hall closet to grab my jacket.

I made it barely three feet before Paul grabbed my arm, twirling me around to look at him.

"Where are you going?"

"Out," I replied, my level voice giving away nothing but my seriousness.

"Talli –"

I cut Paul off. "I understand that because you're a werewolf some things are just different, but now it's your turn to understand something – I'm not. Just because you have special circumstances doesn't mean you can treat me any differently than with the normal respect that I deserve. This," I pointed back and forth between the two of us, "is a two way partnership. I will not discuss my decisions in my relationship to an audience, even if said audience will see it in your mind later."

I took in a deep breath and then smiled, since it helped to put things into perspective. "When you're ready to discuss _our_ relationship, without spectators, call my cell phone."

I didn't really expect Paul to just let me leave, but I knew that I had to be convincing in order for him to see just how serious I was about the matter. It was a defining moment for our relationship and I wasn't about to set the trend of allowing him to dictate our life together; and I certainly wasn't about to let others watch him do it.

Again, I made it about three feet before Paul grabbed my arm.

"Paul," I said in warning.

The message must have gotten through to him because he dropped his hand away from my arm and ran the other one through his hair.

"Fine," he said, "just don't go."

I wasn't about to shout from the roof tops, 'I told you so', but I mentally applauded myself for handling the very tenacious situation in a calm manner.

Now, it was time to freak out. The idea of us breaking up never really entered my mind, because I already knew it was an impossibility. There was just no way on this planet that it would happen, so in a way, I was just bracing myself for the next hurdle; knowing in the mean time that I was going to finish the race.

The room was cleared out in a manner of seconds. I knew by the strained expression on Sam's face, that he was not happy about this decision, but in the end, it wasn't his to decide. A childish part of me wanted to ban him from ease dropping from outside, but I had to choose my battles.

And frankly, if Paul did get carried away, Sam's presence wouldn't hurt. I just wanted to establish how much of a presence he was allowed to have, meaning only a physical protector in times of need, not full time relationship manager.

That part was up to Paul and me.

As the door shut behind Sam, Paul and I were left staring at one another in silence.

I wouldn't say it was awkward, but neither would I go as far as to say that is was the most invigorating two minutes of my life.

Huffing out a breath, Paul said, "Well what?"

I ground my teeth in agitation. "That's a loaded question," I replied.

"Damnit Talliah!" Paul roared. "How in the hell do expect me to react to you want to be all buddy-buddy with a group of bloodsuckers?"

My eyes were narrowed to slits, "Don't shout at me."

"UGH!" he groaned, throwing his hands up in the air.

"Paul, the only thing I expect, is for you to act reasonably to the situation."

"The situation. The SITUATION!" he barked. "My imprint wants to go hang out with my enemy and you think I'm not acting reasonably? I think I'm acting _damn _reasonably!"

"Please," I said rolling my eyes. "You think acting reasonably is storming into the house throwing your weight around for everyone to see? I don't think so. Did it ever occur to you that a simple, 'Talliah I don't want you to do this' would suffice, instead of some grown man temper tantrum?"

I could see the strain in his jaw from that comment.

He waited a minute before speaking, "Are you telling me that you would have listened to me if other people weren't in the room?"

"No," I replied. "I would have listened had you asked or simply told me how you felt. I'm not a monkey that can be ordered around."

Neither of us said anything.

"Shit," he said, walking towards me, pulling me into his arms.

I went because no matter what my mood, it was in his arms that I always wanted to be. I sighed, rubbing my face against his chest, relieved that the brunt of the argument was over with.

Tilting my face up with his thumbs he kissed me. "Please don't work for them. I can handle working beside them when we have to and I'm cool with the whole Nessie and Jake thing, but please don't ask me to be fine with this. You're too important to me. The risk…" He trailed off, closing his eyes. "Every second that you would be with them would be pure hell on me."

I sighed, running my hands up and down his arms. "Fine," I said, kissing his shoulder. "Just please, next time, talk to me before you start to get all primal beast on me."

He smiled and I could see the tension slowly leaving his body. "Really?" he asked, "that's it?"

I raised an eyebrow, "It's called clarification. I'd never intentionally want to hurt you, and if that's what working with the Cullen's entails; then I'm out."

I kissed his lips, "Besides, why are you questioning it when you got your way?"

He smirked, "I did, didn't I?"

I rolled my eyes, resting my head on his chest. We had survived our first argument and neither of us had any scars to show for it; life was good.

"Primal beast huh?" Paul chuckled beside me.

I blushed.

"That's a new one that I've never heard before."

"Shut up," I replied.

"I kind of like it," he went on.

I groaned. What had I let loose?

"Don't get ahead of yourself Fabio," I laughed.

I choked on air during mid laugh as Paul picked me up and carted me into the living room.

"Is this primal enough for you?" he asked, plopping down into the cushions with me in his arms.

"Mhmm," I murmured, rubbing my hands up his chest.

I watched as desire clouded his eyes, before I pulled his face closer to mine for a kiss. I had just started nipping on his lips before I realized that we might still have an audience.

I instantly sat up. "Paul," I whispered, thinking that if anyone was listening, they might not be able to hear my voice if it was really low.

It took him a minute to clear the fog of desire from his brain, but eventually he said, "What?"

"Sshhhh," I hushed.

He gave me a weird look.

"Do you think anyone is still eavesdropping?"

He grinned, "Does it matter?"

"Ewwwww," I replied. "That is such a guy statement."

He rolled his eyes. "I doubt they're listening. They probably left after the first kiss."

I thought about it for a minute, before deciding to agree with Paul. That seemed to be happening a lot today.

"Why is your hair up?" he asked, opening the clip to let my hair slide down my back. I think we both groaned at the same time, but for completely different reasons. The tenderness of my scalp had me sighing, whereas Paul was just well, turned on.

"That felt good," I replied.

"It looked good to," he said, twirling a piece of my hair in his hand.

"Oh yah, I bet," I smiled sarcastically; "I'm regular Play Boy material."

"You have no idea," he murmured.

"You're delusional," I laughed, swatting him as I stood up from the couch.

"Where are you going?" he whined.

"I need sustenance, and you're kisses just aren't doing the job."

"Ouch," he winced.

I ignored him as I searched the expanse of the kitchen for something yummy to fill my stomach with. I settled on Hot Pockets because I wasn't in the mood to cook. I made ten, two for me and the rest for Paul.

Grinning at the idea of such unbelievable food consumption, my eyes caught on something sitting on the window sill. Walking over, I picked it up. I was immediately caught up with its enchantment.

In my hands was a small wooden box carved into the shape of a guitar. I could easily identify it as being handmade.

"Do you like it?" Paul asked, wrapping his arms around me from behind. I was no longer surprised by his lightness of foot.

"It's beautiful," I replied, running my hands along the ridges of the wood. "Did you make it?"

"Yup," he said.

"Wow Paul," I said, shaking my head in wonder. "If you weren't such a talented musician and werewolf, I'd say you could make a full time job out of this."

I could feel his shrug as he held me in his arms.

"Open it," he whispered above my ear.

"It opens?" I exclaimed.

"Where, oh I see it –" I stopped mid sentence, and hurriedly glanced up at Paul.

He was smiling, "It was my grandmother's."

I looked back down at the intricate diamond ring sitting in the middle of the wooden guitar case.

"I wanted you to have it," Paul said, taking it out of my hands and getting down on one knee.

Was this seriously happening?

Oh my gosh… IT WAS!

Kneeling, Paul grabbed my hand. "Talliah, will you marry me?"

My first thought was to sit down on the ground because I was so stunned, but Quil's previous comment about me having a sitting fetish forced me to stand up.

I looked at Paul, disbelieving of the fact that such a wonderful guy wanted to make this kind of commitment. It really shouldn't have surprised me. I mean I _was_ his imprint.

Still, I was for some reason, very shocked.

"Well?" he laughed nervously.

"HELL YES!!" I rushed, jumping at him and making us both fall onto the kitchen floor. I was in the middle of kissing every inch of his face, when I felt an unfamiliar weight on my ring finger.

Stopping, I lifted my hand and saw the diamond sparkle.

"I just can't believe it," I whispered, before turning my head to see Paul's goofy grin.

"I've been waiting two days for you to notice that damn case," he said.

"I'm so oblivious," I laughed, kissing his chin.

He pulled me closer, so that I was lying on top of him. "I made the case the day after the fundraiser. I knew how I was going to propose to you, I just never knew when."

"Really?" I smiled, "I'm surprised you didn't carve out a pair of lips since it _was_ a kissing booth that we met at."

"Psh, maybe if I actually got to kiss you, but if you remember we didn't end up kissing until WAY later."

I rolled my eyes, "You're so dramatic."

"So," he said, sitting up, "When is the earliest that you're willing to get married?"

I thought about it for a minute before saying, "Eight months."

His eyes bugged, it was slightly comical. I kissed his cheek as a sort of apology. "Well what did you expect? I have to tell my mother and she would just die if her only daughter didn't have a big wedding."

When his face stayed the same saddened expression and he didn't say anything, I went on. "Paul, she's been planning this since before I was born."

He groaned, falling back onto the floor. "You were made to torture me."

Trailing my fingers up and down his chest, I said, "At least it's a sweet kind of torture, right?"

He moaned, grabbing my hand. "You have no idea."

I could tell he was about to kiss me in what would surely end up in a passionate tangle on the kitchen floor, so I decided to tease him.

I quickly stood up, "You're right, I'm oblivious. Why don't we go show everyone my new ring?"

I thought I heard him whimper.

Laughing, I made my way to the closet to grab my jacket. "Come on slow poke, get a move on."

He grunted, getting up from off of the floor.

I probably glanced at my hands every two minutes on the drive from our house, all the way to Sam and Emily's. I just couldn't believe I was actually going to get married.

I, Talliah, was ENGAGED!

That meant I was someone's actual fiancée.

Wow.

Of course everyone seemed to have been at Sam and Emily's, so when we told them the good news, the squeals from all of the women could have probably been heard from miles away.

By the time things had settled down and the men were in the living room watching a football game, my entire face hurt from smiling so much.

And yet, in spite of the pain, I still couldn't stop myself.

I was just so happy.

And that's when I remembered that I couldn't call my best friend up, screaming and hollering about the good news.

That knowledge hurt.

More than I was expecting.

"What's wrong?" Emily asked, causing me to look up.

I must have been unknowingly frowning. Glancing over into the living room, I made sure Paul wasn't listening. No matter what, I didn't want him to think I was upset about marrying him.

Noticing that his attention was fully absorbed on the television, I turned to Emily saying, "It just hit me that I can't call Ana to tell her the good news."

Emily pulled me to her for a hug, "I'm so sorry honey. I know it must hurt."

I shrugged; not knowing what else could be said or done about it.

"If it helps," Emily said, pulling away from me, "I know what you're going through. The same thing happened when Sam imprinted on me."

My curiosity was sparked, "Really?"

"Yah," she said, sounding horribly sad.

"Did you ever talk to her again?"

"Oh yes," she replied nervously.

I finally felt a reason to hope, "So you two ended up working things out?"

"No," she said shaking her head. "She never understood my betrayal, not even now."

I felt as if my candle had just been blown out and I was left standing alone in the dark. If Emily, one of the nicest women on the planet, couldn't keep her best friend… there was no way I was going to.

"At least you talk though," I said, trying to comfort from one sad woman to another.

Her smile was tense, "Not really, you see, my best friend was my cousin. Her name was Leah."

My hand stilled from pushing my hair back from my face.

Leah.

She just said Leah.

My eyes darted to the corner of the room, where one, lone, solitary figure sat in the dark.

Leah.

I looked into Emily's eyes and I knew what she was telling me. I knew the horrible struggle she must have gone through and must still be confronted with on occasion.

At least Ana left and there was no way she was going to turn into a werewolf, but Leah… Leah _had_ stayed and she _was_ a werewolf.

In that moment I had more respect for Emily than I ever had previously. Here was a woman who was physically scarred by the man she loved, tortured in a broken friendship, and yet she was one of the kindest, most gentle souls I had ever met.

She didn't tell me what I needed to hear about my friendship with Ana, she showed me.

I pulled her close for a hug, squeezing her a little tighter for reassurance and thanks, before I made my way into the living room.

Glancing up, I saw Paul's eyes on me and I knew he had only been pretending to be engrossed in the television.

I didn't care though.

I went and sat in his lap, curling myself up.

He wrapped his arms around me and played with the ends of my hair as I listened to his steady heartbeat through his shirt.

This is what I needed.

This is what I wanted.

Averting my eyes towards Leah, I felt sorry for her bitterness. Is that what Ana would become? I shuddered at the thought.

"Are you okay?" Paul asked; I could feel his breath on my ear.

I looked up at him, smiling in spite of the sadness running through my mind. "Yup," I said, curling my arm around his waist.

I now understood how Emily could do it… deal with all the pain in her past.

It was simply because there was only one person that could make her happy and like her, there was only one person who could make me happy.

And I was sitting on his lap, watching television with him.

So yah, I was okay.

I tilted my head up a little so I could kiss his chin.

He smiled, kissing me on the forehead.

I thought my happiness in that moment would never disappear, but then a random thought threw that theory all to hell.

"Um Paul," I said hesitantly.

"Hmm?" he asked, no longer really paying attention now that I told him I was okay.

"You can run super fast, right?" I asked.

His eyebrows came together in confusion and he paused from watching the people on the plasma screen.

"Yes?" he said it more like a question.

"Good," I sighed, "because my mom will love you; it's my dad I'm worried about."


	27. Chapter 27

Ta-Daaaaaa! My story is finished! Thank you for sticking with me until the very end! Whoot Whoot! I know a lot of people say it, but I've had some of the BEST fans reading my story and I just want to say that you're all GREAT! I know I'm a turkey for not posting my last chapter sooner, but all I can do is beg for forgiveness. So, thank you and enjoy the read!

**Chapter 27:**

I couldn't choose between melting or laughing. Everything was just so perfect.

Or at least I thought so, until I saw Seth eyeing the cake.

My only thought was: he better damn well not touch that with even his pinky finger.

By the guilty expression on his face when he noticed me watching him, I could tell I just helped avoid a major catastrophe. If my imagination of him lunging for the cake and grabbing handfuls to cheerfully devour was graphic, I couldn't imagine how gluttonous his was.

Thankfully all trouble was averted and I could see Dezzy, Seth's imprint, making her way towards him.

I sighed, knowing that she would make sure Seth kept his paws to himself.

Laughing at my own pun, I went to go grab my husband.

Husband.

Wow.

Paul is my husband. I knew the day would come, but still… wow.

Words couldn't express my love for that silly, temperamental, sexy, muscular, hunky, dorky, tan, werewolf man. Everything about him just drove me crazy and yet everything about our relationship was so sane.

I smiled, yah right. Sane, as in I'm dating a superstar singing werewolf. Right, my life was _so_ sane.

It took me a minute to find my beast, but the sight was worth waiting for. He looked dashing in his suit.

Who am I kidding? I'd rather rip it off him. He looked scrumptious!

Patience, I murmured to myself, just a few more hours.

I didn't notice until I was a few feet away that he was talking with my parents. My mom of course was batting her eyelashes at her new son-in-law, she was such a hopeless flirt. My dad on the other hand, he just looked uncomfortable in a suit and tie.

Before I told him, I was terrified that dad wouldn't approve of my marriage. It's not that I thought he wouldn't like Paul because, come on, who wouldn't?

Leah's face popped into mind, but I ignored it.

No, my dad would definitely like Paul, it was just my dad's tendency to butt heads with every decision I made that worried me. Surprisingly though, he was okay with the news of my impending marriage. But only after I told him the wedding was in eight months. His biggest worry was that I was going to get hitched in a week and pop out a preemie, aka getting married because I was pregnant.

No way was that happening or anything like that until after the wedding, much to Paul's annoyance.

If my dad was okay, then my mom was ecstatic. I don't know who wanted this marriage more, Paul and me or my mother. I blushed just thinking about the bridal party.

Paul caught me blushing and grinned, pulling me to his side. I instantly felt safe.

"Hey gorgeous," he smiled.

I stood on my tippy-toes to kiss his jaw. "Right back at ya," I whispered.

"Awe, look Bill," my mother gushed, "don't they just make the most perfect couple?"

Dad did some sort of "yup" grunt.

I ran my hand down Paul's backside, out of my parents' eyesight.

Paul tensed, looking down at me. I smiled, after all, what was life without a little teasing thrown in?

"Not funny," he whispered, kissing me on the forehead, to which my mom cascaded us with another round of "awes".

"It wasn't meant to be," I said in my sexiest voice. It sounded more like a dog choking on a bone to me, but it seemed to turn him on so why not go with it?

I could see the storm clouds of desire in his eyes.

He raised my hand to his lips, kissing the palm. Only he and I were aware of the tongue that dashed out to touch my skin.

I shivered with anticipation. Just a few more hours and…

"Darling?" my mom asked, interrupting my… um… thoughts.

I barely had enough strength to pull my eyes away from Paul, but somehow I managed. "Yes?" I answered.

"Who is that beautiful couple?"

I sighed, knowing who she was referring to before I even turned around. Only _they_ could make a bride feel ugly on her wedding day.

The Cullens.

I felt Paul stiffen next to me once he recognized who my mom was speaking about. I squeezed his hand and I could feel all the space that was between us shrink. Paul didn't like me even an inch away from him when they were around.

I could hear the bitterness in his voice when he said, "They're Talliah's co-workers."

I rolled my eyes. He was so good at being dramatic. I still couldn't believe Paul was angry about my working situation.

It was one thing not to work with the Cullens every day, but when the opportunity came to work on the reservation, there was no way I was passing that up. So what if once a month I had to drive into Forks for a meeting with said veggie vamps. To me, it was worth it.

Of course Paul was totally against the idea. Although I have to give it to him, he approached the topic very, very civilly. Way better than the first time. I think that's why he was so surprised when I told him I was still accepting the job.

I knew I'd go insane if I didn't get out of the house and besides, if I have to wrack my nerves every time he's around them in a month, I'm sure an hour meeting once a month wasn't going to kill him. Besides, I did relent a little… Paul comes with me to every meeting.

Like I really had a choice with that one?

"Oh, how nice dear," my mom smiled. "Why don't we go and introduce ourselves Bill?"

I instantly felt bad for Edward, he was going to have to listen to my mother's flirtatious thoughts.

As I watched their retreating backs, I glanced up at Paul. His jaw was clenched.

"Cheer up," I smirked, "look at this defeat as an opportunity."

He scowled in confusion, so I tried to clarify.

"You get to spend all night trying to convince me to change my mind," I winked at his stunned face before making my exit.

Where my exit was, I had no freakin clue. All I knew was that with a naughty response like that, I had to have an exit.

I approached the first smiling face that I made eye contact with – Leah.

I still couldn't believe I was able to associate the word "smile" with Leah.

I'd like to think that she was smiling because it was my wedding day but I knew without thinking that it was because of the baby in her arms. Oh well, I was just happy to finally see some semblance of the old Leah that everyone had told me stories about. In my eyes, Leah deserved to find happiness.

But it was still beyond freaky that she imprinted on Quil and Claire's son. I mean, you'd think this whole situation couldn't get anymore warped! First they're famous singers, then they're werewolves, then they imprint, then they imprint on human/vampire combos, then they imprint on babies, and then when you really don't think there's anything left to surprise you BAM!- Leah imprints on a mini-werewolf-to-be.

There was no doubt though, that she was happy. I know Quil was panicked at first, thinking Leah would use this as a means for payback for all his taunts, but just like the other imprints, she fell instantly in love. Of course her love wasn't like the other imprints, it's more motherly.

I laughed inside; it was like the feelings I imagined Paul had for me at first. Oh man, am I ever pathetic.

"Hey," I said, stopping when I reached her.

Still cooing the baby, she replied, "I guess it'd be pointless to welcome you to the family, but congrats on making it official."

"Gee thanks," I said sarcastically, "I really feel the love."

She smiled, a genuine smile, before whispering baby talk to the adoring listener in her arms.

I was about to mingle with other guests when Leah said, "Seriously, without you meeting Paul, the two biggest pain in the ass werewolves would still be on the prowl. Now, Paul has his imprint and I have mine. So thanks."

I was about to ask her how I had anything to do with helping her find her imprint but then I remembered the little consensus amongst the werewolves. And I remembered Claire's excitement to get started on making a family.

Regardless, of the oddly put congratulations, I felt the sincerity behind it. If getting married to Paul hadn't already made my day, if not my entire life span, then seeing Leah happy and getting along with everyone would have.

"Don't hog the bride Leah," Kim whined, behind me. "Isn't it good enough that you're holding the only baby in the family?"

I laughed, because Leah looked seriously afraid that someone was about to ask her if they could hold the baby. Personally, I didn't think anyone, werewolves included, had enough guts.

Regardless, Leah managed to slink away from the more populated part of the wedding crowd that we were standing in.

"You scared her away," I complained.

Kim raised an eyebrow, "Right and you were having such a ball."

"I don't think you got the memo," I smiled sweetly. "The one that said the bride is always right on her wedding day."

She snorted, "We imprints break away from normal traditions."

I smiled, "So true."

"Paul looks like he's ready to leave for the honeymoon," Kim laughed.

Looking towards Paul, I laughed one of my screeching laughs. He was standing next to Mrs. Dits, who I'm sure, was gossiping his ear off. Paul, hearing me, looked up and gave me his infamous puppy dog eyes.

I laughed harder.

"Great," whined Kim, when she noticed Paul excusing himself from the county gossip. "Now he's going to come over here and steal your attention from me. Do you have any idea how hard it's been to try and talk to you today?"

I rolled my eyes, "I'd save you to, if Mrs. Dits had you cornered."

"I knew there was a reason I married you," Paul growled when he reached me, pulling me in tightly for a kiss.

Mmm, yum. The feeling of his lips on mine would never grow old.

"Aren't you the one that's supposed to save her," Kim interrupted with a raised eyebrow, "not the other way around."

Paul scowled, then looked down at me, "Are you sure she was invited."

I playfully swatted his arm, "Be nice."

"I want to," Paul said mischievously, "but we're not alone yet."

I blushed.

"I'll be very nice to you," Paul went on, "In fact, I'll –"

"HELLO!" Kim shouted, "You have guests that don't want to hear all the horny details."

"Kim!" I whispered, whipping my head around to make sure nobody heard. I could tell by the grins on some of the werewolves' faces that, because of their sensitive hearing, they heard. But other than that, everyone else was clueless.

Still, I wanted to blend in with Paul's tux.

"Why do I continually hang around people that have some misguided notion that I'm not normal unless I'm permanently blushing?"

There was a long silence then Paul said, "I think it makes you look hot."

"Geesh," Kim huffed. "I'll see you two after the honeymoon. Maybe then you'll have something, other than your hots for one another, to talk about."

Watching her stomp off, I couldn't help remembering the last time I saw someone else act like that.

Ana.

Turning my head, I saw her petite figure standing next to her latest boy toy. I was glad that she was able to come to my wedding, even though I secretly thought she came to prove something. She kept trying to show off her new boyfriend, as if I should be jealous.

Ha! Yah right, Paul was everything I wanted and more.

Still, I was Ana's best friend for so long that it was easy to see that she had missed me, even if others didn't. She needed constant attention and as a best friend, I gave that to her. When I left, she must have realized how significant I was in her life. I was glad that she had made the initial phone call to see how I was doing.

The memory made me smile. I'm sure it was no coincidence that she waited to call until she had a new boyfriend whose house phone number would show up on my caller ID.

Glancing at Paul, I knew he was one of the others that thought Ana should be left to wallow in her own selfishness. He couldn't help it, he was my imprint; anything that made me sad, hurt him.

Paul must have noticed my glance from Ana to him because he asked, "I thought she said she wasn't going to be able to make it to the wedding?"

"Please," I said, rolling my eyes. "Ana is nothing, if not the queen of late arrivals. She'll always come to an event, but she makes sure she's late so that all the attention can be on her."

Before he had a chance to get angry, I held out my index finger in front of his face.

"Don't make me flick you on our wedding day," I grinned.

It took him a minute to register what I was saying before he threw his head back and roared with laughter.

Our friends and family stared at us, because for some odd reason they thought Paul was formidable. Go figure. I mean I knew he had a horrible temper, but to me, he was nothing but a big puppy.

"I love you," I said, pulling his face towards mine for a kiss.

I felt him bite my lower lip before saying, "Yah, yah, I know you just want me for my body."

"Mhmm," I sighed, running my hands up his chest to lock behind his back. "You do have a nice body."

"I'll let you flick it all night long," he whispered, nibbling on my ear.

Even though his outrageous statement totally turned me on, I did burst out laughing.

He just chuckled, grabbing some of my hair to twirl around his finger.

"I love your hair down like this," Paul smiled, "you're so beautiful."

I felt like a nerd when the star football player tells her that she's cute. I barely managed to keep from giggling.

Instead I said, "And I love you in your human form."

"Damn," he said smiling, "I knew I should have had the vows say 'as man or beast' instead of 'for better or for worst'."

"To late," I teased, wagging my finger in front of his face. "You snooze, you lose."

Suddenly Paul's face grew very serious; I grew momentarily worried until he started to say something.

"No Talliah, I definitely won this hand."

I just stared into his eyes, sharing all my love with him. He really was my soul mate, that simple sentence was proof enough.

I glanced around and saw all the stunning decorations and all the people that shared in the love that Paul and I had for one another. Everything in that moment seemed so crystal clear, I was truly happy. Everything had worked out and I was surrounded by love. My happiness was beyond even a fairytale's magic.

My vision started to blur when I heard Paul taunt, "You can commit to marrying a werewolf and handle working with vampires, but you cry at a wedding? You're such a girl."

"No," I sniffed, "my eyes are just peeing."

**THE END**


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